The Uzukage
by Babyuknowme13
Summary: Banished because of her brother in all but blood, Naru has lost everything that once gave her a reason to live. Now she suddenly finds that maybe, her life is still needed by someone else. Can she continue on and forge a new path for herself? Is it over?
1. Chapter 1

LC; This is what would happen if the council was as bitchy as they usually are.  
Naruto; I'm sick of being a girl, make Sasuke the girl!  
LC; I'm afraid that would be impossible.  
Sasuke; Why's that? Not that I'm complaining.  
Naruto; YEAH! Why not?  
LC; Cause female bad guys are never taken seriously and he's a good bad guy!  
Sasuke; See? Even if she doesn't like me she likes me.  
LC; Don't push your luck pretty boy.  
Sasuke; *Gulp.*  
Naruto; Let's just get this over with.  
Disclaimer; I don't own anything but this story and I kinda borrowed some stuff from some people, you'll know when I show you.

Chapter 1; Old news, new hope, and common knowledge.

Three months. That was how long she'd been traveling from village to village. That is how long she had been banished for failing to bring Sasuke, her brother in all ways that mattered, back home.  
Huh, she still thought of that place as home? What was she? A five year old who needs a place with a warm meal and bed to survive?  
Shaking her head fiercly, she kept moving down the lonely road until the Sun had long since set.

How long had she been walking now? When had she last stopped and slept? It was obvious, three weeks. Ever since she found that Hunter-nins had been sent after her.  
If she kept moving, she would be able to stay ahead of them. After all, they had to stop and rest sometime right? She could keep going as long as she needed to, because she needed to.  
All she wore was the ripped and tattered jacket and ninja pants she was never seen without.  
Come to think of it, she needed new clothes, otherwise she'd be tracked down.

She also had a sort of cloth sack swung over her shoulder like a potato sack. In it were several pouches with weapons inside and what little money she had left after three months.  
All in all, she appeared to be a poor beggar. Then again, it was better that way. That way, no one would recognize her and she could get away and find somewhere else.  
Her normally bright, exubrant, blonde hair was so filthy it was almost brown! Her eyes were dull and lifeless, her spirit broken.

Oh how she wanted to die! If only she could finally be at peace! She no longer cared if she went to heaven or hell, so long as it was an end!  
Her reason for existence had been taken from her, what more did she have? A soul? A body? A pulse? What did it matter when none of it was necessary for someone else's survival? How the mighty have fallen indeed.

Glancing upward, she saw she had wandered to a rather desolate range of mountains. Turning around, she found that some time ago she must have wandered off the path ad wound up here as a consequence.  
"You lost kid?" She jumped and drew a kunai from up her sleeve before turning to face an old man walking with a cane with a content smile on his face.  
"Or maybe someone's lost you!" He continued thoughtfully, setting himself heavily onto a mangled old stump and beckoning her.  
"I'm Pappy, what's your name, little lady?" He greeted her kindly.  
Clearing her throat, for fear of only being able to cough when she opened it to speak. "N-Naru U-U-Uzumaki, sir."

The old man, Pappy, gestured for her to sit down on a nearby rock. "So Naru, what brings you to the gateway of Heaven and Hell?" He asked jokingly.  
"What do you mean gateway?" Naru asked suspiciously.  
"Well, most say these mountains are cursed." He explained. "Depending on what is in your heart, the mountains either swallow you and spit you up in Hell, or throw you up into Heaven."  
Naru shuddered at the thought of being eaten and then spat out or thrown up. Personally, she didn't know which one disgusted her more at the moment.

"Course, that's all just silly superstition!" The man continued, not noticing her look of repulsion. "I myself have lived twenty years in these mountains and not once has it opened it's maw!"  
"You live here all alone?" She asked curiously. "Are you a hermit?"  
"You could say that." He nodded wisely. "Though mostly cause I've outlived my entire clan, the people who once populated the place beyond these mountains."  
"How can you outlive an entire clan?" Naru asked, slightly confused. "Were they killed or eaten by the mountains or something?"  
Pappy chuckled as he saw some spirit appear in the girl's big blue eyes. Looking with every ounce of his fading eye sight, he saw her hair was actually sun blonde underneath all that dirt.

"Child, they were killed in a horrid genocide." He said slowly, sadly. "Because my clan had a special bloodline trait that allowed us to do magical things."  
Naru listened intently as the old man recounted what had happened fifty years ago, when he was but a babe. Outsiders had attacked his clan while at a large clan meeting out of the mountains and killed them all, all, but one.  
Somehow, he had survived to tell the tale. He would not have known had not one of the men discover he yet lived and taken him away out of pity.  
"I survived, when the strongest and proudest of my clan did not." He said sorrowfully. "All I know is, that while we may be gone, our secret thrives still."

That night, for the first time in three months, Naru ate with another civil human being. When all the food was gone, her stomache gave yet another fiercome growl.  
"When was the last time you ate?" Pappy asked her.  
"Three weeks." She said quietly. "I couldn't afford any food, and I was too weak to hunt or forage for myself. I was badly injured when I got in a fight with a ninja. It took all I had to keep moving. If I stopped, they'd find me."  
"A refugee too eh?" He said understandingly. "Both of us outcasts from society, both of us hunted."

Late that night, he showed the now happier girl all the different movements of the stars. He was old now, and he knew he did not have long left.  
He needed a successor, an heir, someone to retell the stories he had painstakingly sought for about his clan. What was more, was he needed someone who would understand him, someone who would need him, as much as he needed them.  
And he found that, in Naru Uzumaki.

After six long months of lessons that Naru hardly found to be lessons and much training, (How could anyone learn that fast? Six months and she knew all his clan's jutsu and styles!) Naru was now ready to be showed where the clan had lived before their death. Slowly, they made their way through the mountain range, until they found a cave hidden almost entirely from the best of eyes.  
They traveled inside for what seemed like hours, until finally coming to an exit into startling light. When her eyes grew accustomed to the bright light, she saw it was the Sun's rays glinting off the ocean that caused it.  
"Wow!" She exclaimed, running down to the water's edge and prancing around in the waves.

Pappy looked at his little protege's growth over the last sixth months. The first time she had taken off that torn jacket, he'd almost fainted when he realized he could clearly see each and every bone.  
Now, she had grown out a bit more and didn't look like a walking skeleton. She'd gotten rid of the jacket and had replaced it with a twilight blue no-sleeve shirt. She also had some strange wide-rimmed sleeves that only began at the elbow and covered her hands most of the time.  
For pants she now wore cute black shorts stopping at the knees. Below that she wore blue chakra wieghts and regulary shinobi sandals.  
Her hair was clean and shone in the light, her bangs cutely framing her face and her pig tails dancing in the breeze.

He sat down by the water's edge and waited until Naru came back from her swim. "I've seen the ocean before but I've never been able to take a real swim in it without being in danger! It's so much fun!" She laughed, straining her long hair.  
Pappy hauled himself up and gestured for Naru to follow him. Along the way, Naru picked up several seashells and things she'd never seen before.  
Finally, they came to a land path that went over the water, acting as a natural bridge.  
"Step lively now!" Pappy warned her playfully, seeing how she was walking slower and taking in the view.

It wasn't long before the path started taking on a slope, soon Naru was walking up to her knees in cool water. "Um, Pappy?" She called to her sensei. "At this rate we'll be under the water."  
"Yes, you see Naru," Pappy began, pausing them on their trek. "My clan had the ability to completely control water with our will power. To forever be safe from presecuters, we used this ability to build an underwater utopia. It took many years, but now, under these waves lies an entire city."  
Naru was amazed something like that could be under this seemingly bottomless ocean. "But, I don't have that ability!" She cried, not knowing if she could still go.  
"I know, but I can make a dome around us so we can both get there." Pappy informed her patiently.

An hour later, Pappy had them both within the indestructable dome of the village hidden in the depths. Uzu no sato, the village hidden in the depths. (Just shut up about the name, I couldn't think of anything else.)  
Looking around, she was amazed to find it was twice the size of Konoha! Just outside the dome, hundreds of shiny fish swam by, basking in the city's glow.  
The village itself was beautiful. Everywhere one looked, there were gentle curls that represented the waves rolling above along with so many different designs that she knew she'd never be able to find where they had come from.  
All in all, it was an undersea utopia.

Pappy watched as Naru turned her gaze from side to side, trying to take in everything she saw. He remembered doing much the same thing when he was finally able to make it down here.  
"Naru, it's time I taught you about my clan." He said slowly, setting himself down onto a nearby bench.  
"You see my dear, our bloodline trait, isn't a bloodline trait."  
3...2...1. "NANI?" She cried.

"Our manipulation of the water is a skill aquirred through a lot of training and will power, nothing more." He explained calmly. "It is in fact, a jutsu we created many years ago, that others saw as a gekkai genkai."  
He began teaching her how to control water to the extent she could actually, 'bend it', so to speak. After another six months of training, she finally mastered it to the extent that she could create the movable dome to go to the surface.  
On one of these trips, she found out that people were traversing the mountains. She found the remains of a campfire, still warm. The only sign was the bare circle of wrong colored grass, something only a ninja would notice.  
"Ninja." She growled, checking her surroundings quickly.

Without waiting to see who had come to call, she ran back to the earth path and hid it under a genjutsu she had learned, covering it with enough water to disguise any abnormalities, before vanishing under the surface.

Upon reaching the main tower where she and Pappy lived, she bust into his room where he had been laying ill all day. "Pappy we got tresspassers in the mountains!" She gasped as she saw that he was on the floor, unconcious.  
"Pappy!" She cried, immediatly hoisting the old man onto his bed. "Pappy?" She called again.  
His eyes fluttered open and his lips curled into a ghost of a smile when he recognized her.  
"Naru, back so soon?" He coughed, not losing his smile.  
"Pappy I told you to stay in bed!" She scolded him, pulling the covers up.  
"Naru, I'm an old man." He sighed heavily. "I'm afraid I'm not long for this world."  
"Pappy." Naru said sadly, tears coming to her eyes.

He died late that night, and she buried him in the graveyard. She had changed much from the ramen loving girl everyone in Konoha knew.  
Her hair reached her waist and was no longer unruly, but perfectly straight. Her top was the same, as was the disconnected sleeves, but her shorts had been replaced with the skirt of a black kimono. The waist sash was bright blue and tied simply.  
Her shinobi sandals had been replaced with normal japanese sandals worn by young men and women. (Jaraiya's kind of shoes)  
Her whisker marks had become finer, less like the scars many had mistaken them for. Her eyes were bright and happy, reflecting her emotions as clearly as the ocean on a clear day.

"Thank you Pappy-jiji." She prayed for his kind soul. "For giving me a reason to live. Now I know what I wish to do, I'll travel and someday, build this village into it's former glory." She paused for a second before smiling. "That's the promise of a life time."  
The next day she packed a bag and went to the surface, ready to begin her journey to lands never before seen by the ninja of Elemental countries.

Unbenownst to Naru, she was being watched by a pair of calculating brown eyes. To be more specific, it was one brown eye, the other, was hidden unerneathe bandages.  
The X shaped scar curved as he grinned a soulless smile at finally having found his quarry. 'Naru Uzumaki, jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune, you will be my greatest weapon yet!'  
He thought malevantly.

Upon reaching the shore, she turned back to the exposed land bridge. Lifting her hands, she felt the pull of the water, and carefully raised the tide until the bridge was hidden under a near foot of water.  
"May you rest easy, sensei." She whispered solemnly, bowing in respect of the dead before jogging off and into the cave to begin her journey.

Danzo had seen enough and he released himself, showing him to be nothing more than a shadow clone. The real Danzo smirked, seemingly for no reason, as the memories recorded themselves into his mind.  
'Good, it seems she's gotten stronger in the last year.' He thought happily, taking a sip of his tea.

Three days afterward, Naru was walking down a frequented path through the forest when she caught sight of a large cage further down the road, hanging from a tree.  
When she reached it, she found inside a young man around her age, highly weakened.  
His eyes fluttered when he heard her approach and for a moment he showed hope in his eyes.  
"Why are you in this?" She asked calmly, gesturing to the cage.  
"Let's just say I ticked off a tyrant and he decided to make an example out of me." He sighed tiredly, as though he were used to it.

His eyes took on a melancholy look as he looked to the right of the cage, just out of his reach, there lay a beautiful sword.  
"They'll be back any minute now." He said tiredly, before turning to her. "I beg of you, take with you my sword! I can not allow someone like that man wield Shupaname!"  
"Why take just the blade when the life is much more precious?" She asked, cocking her head to one side.  
"You don't understand!" He pleaded with her. "Even if that were true, this cage can not be opened without the key! Besides," He said softly. "I am but a weapon with no master, if I must die, I want my master's blade to be far away from here."  
He lowered his head in shame, and thus missed Naru's reproachful glare as she sensed many men on horseback galloping towards them.

She turned her back to the cage and faced the road. "Your name?" She asked him. "What is your name?"  
"Haradai, Haradai Shitzuki." He answered confusedly, realizing they were about to have company, and wondering why this young woman did not flee.  
"They will kill you if they find you here!" He warned the young woman. "Please, leave with Shupaname! Flee!"  
The horsemen came to a halt at the sight of the woman standing before their prisoner.

"What is this?" Demanded their leader, sneering down at the young woman. "A lover? Or perhaps a sister?" He was now taunting the man in the cage, Haradai.  
"I assure he and I are not connected in the least." Naru said politely, adding a small bow, as was respectful.  
"You should stay here then!" His eyes gleamed with lust as he anticipated what he would do with her later. "After we execute the traitor we can escort you back home!"  
The girl giggled, and he immediatly grew nervous for some strange reason he could not understand.

With a blur of gold, the woman vanished, only to reappear on the other side of the clearing. As soon as she stopped moving, all of his men fell from their unharmed horses.  
He could just make out a blade in the woman's hands before she turned to him.  
"You remind me of a man I once knew." She told him softly. "A man I once hated." A man that went by Zabuza. "You have the ability to be good and just, yet your greed has gotten in your way."  
She said not another word before slitting his throat.

Haradai could only watch as this woman moved at speeds rivalling his own and wasted the entire group without putting a single hair out of place.  
He watched her take the key from their leader the tyrant and walk over to his cage, swinging it around her little finger.  
"So, which one of us was going to die?" She asked jokingly, putting the key in the lock and opening the door for them.  
"Who are you?" He asked weakly, his days without any food or water catching up to him.  
"Naru Uzumaki." She answered, lifting his surprisingly light form out of the cage and grabbing his sword.  
He hefted him over the back of a black mustang before swinging her legs over a white female one.  
"Thank you." He said to her, before closing his eyes.

They rode until finding a clearing far off into the forest. Naru unrolled her bedroll and put Haradai onto it before pouring some water down his throat.  
After that was done, she made dinner, a rabbit stew so he would be able to eat it without being too sick.  
The horses were cobbled not far away, whickering to eachother no doubt, while she slaved over the fire.  
Chuckling at her small inside joke, she waited for him to wake up.

"So that old man taught you how to get to the legendary Uzu no Sato?" He asked, just making sure he'd heard right.  
"That's right." She acknowledged.  
"And you can really control water?" He asked skeptically, his brow raised slightly in challenge.  
She giggled and opened the water bottle from earlier. "Just watch me!" She said, bringing her hand from the top and drawing the water out bit by bit until she had an orb of it in the palm of her hand.  
"It takes a lot of chakra and will power, both of which I have in abundance." She told him.

He kept watch while she slept, and marveled on how anyone could hate someone as beautiful as her. To him, she was a glorious angel who had saved him from certain death.  
He knew she was but a mere fourteen, and he sixteen, but he instantly knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he loved her.  
In the morning, he spoke to her.

"Naru, you saved my life." He said her name like it was some rare and exotic flower. "To you I am grateful, and to you, I owe my life." Her expression seemed confused, her face almost a pout. "Until the day I can repay my debt, I swear to be your blade."  
This was the highest honor someone of his clan could give. A life debt was no laughing matter, he had basically layed his life in this woman's hands.

STORY BREAK TIME!  
LC; YUP! Now for the credits! Sarakiel gave me some good ideas!  
Naruto; Hope she doesn't sue you for taking stuff like this.  
LC; I asked for permission first so it's alright!  
Sasuke; Keep telling yourself that kid.  
LC; What can you say? Your the reason poor Naru-chan was banished!  
Sasuke; You made me do that!  
Naruto; Nu-uh! Kishimoto did!  
LC; Death to KISHIMOTO! 


	2. Chapter 2

LC; YAY! Chapter two! SWEET!  
Naruto; I thought you only said awesome.  
LC; I do but sweet is okay too.  
Sasuke; Is it true your inventing a new language?  
LC; Ah Sasuke, your awesomeness shines brighty with the light of awesome! My new awesome language is Awesome-ese and it's as awesome as the word awesome!  
Naruto; I lost count, how many times did she say awesome?  
Sasuke; About six times.  
LC; On to my awesome story!  
Disclaimer; I hardly own anything at all! I swear! *Lawyer puts away briefcase* Phew. That was close.

Chapter 2; Bad expierences, new friends, and bitter rivals.

Naru didn't know what to say as Haradai stayed kneeled before her, offering her his sword. Finally steeling her courage, she took the sword from his hands before flipping it and catching the blade.  
"Haradai, I respect your oath, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you were to die because of me." She chose her words carefully. "I would like the company though, it gets kind of lonely on the road."  
Haradai looked up at his offered sword and looked up, bewildered, at the face of the blonde angel who was offering more than a sword, she was offering his life.  
His own decision.

An hour later, the two saddled up and rode to a nearby port city. On the trip, Naru told him of her life before and after her banishment.  
"You were banished because you almost got killed trying to bring back a traitor?" Haradai asked, eye brow twitching with annoyance. Naru nodded to him, a little nervous about his reaction. "THAT IS THE DUMBEST REASON TO BE BANISHED I'VE EVER HEARD!" Somewhere about fifty miles away, Jaraiya could have sworn he heard someone whisper that to him.  
However looking around, he decided to label it under, 'imagination' and 'old age'.

Back with the dynamic duo, they had stopped by a stream to get a drink of water and make some lunch. Naru wiped her mouth and stood, stretching while not betraying her tenseness.  
She hadn't gone through all those damned lessons with Pappy so she could be ambushed the moment she set foot off the mountains!  
Whoever it was, she didn't recognize their signatures. She'd purposely gone a distance away from Haradai to see who he was after, and he'd followed her to the stream.  
Standing tall and looking over the clearing with a care free expression, she swiftly pulled and threw several senbon with enough accuracy to outline the stranger's body against the tree.

"Why are you following me?" She demanded to the nearly invisible shape. He sighed and dispelled the genjutsu he had placed over himself.  
It was Sasuke.

It was Sasuke, and yet, he looked and felt so different. His eyes were hollow, he had lost weight, and while he did seem stronger, he also seemed weaker.  
"Hi, Naru." He sighed tiredly, not meeting her eyes.  
The biggest change, were the white milky eyes, revealing blindness.  
"Sasuke?" She asked, not wanting to believe this defeated man was her best friend.  
"Nice to hear you again." He answered, his eyes unblinking and lodged at a point to the right of her.

Haradai ran over to where he had heard Naru raise her voice and found her staring at a young man with the eyes of the blind.  
"What did he do to you, Sasuke?" She asked softly.  
Haradai was stunned. This, defeated man, was Sasuke Uchiha? "Naru, is this the same Sasuke you said turned traitor?" He asked uneasily, eyeing the man wearily.  
"Yes, this is my best friend Sasuke Uchiha." She answered gravely. Slowly, trying not to startle him, she approached him until she ruined the moment by sticking her toungue out at the blind boy.

Naru was surprised when he didn't react but swiftly began to wave a hand in front of his face. "What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, feeling the wind from the wave.  
"Your really blind?" She asked, putting her hand down to her side.  
"Orochimaru tried to put a lot of different blood line traits in me, starting with the byakugan." Sasuke told her sadly. "Something went wrong during the procedure, and made me lose my eye sight. He didn't want to take over my body anymore, so he left me in the woods."  
"That bastard!" Naru cursed vehemently. "When I get my hands on him I'm gonna pound him to the next century!" (No Naru! I don't want to deal with a pedo vamp! Don't send him here!)

At first, Haradai wanted nothing more than to chop the stupid traitor's head off with his blade himself. However, for the sake of his mistress, he heard the man out.  
"I don't even remember how I got there." He sighed tiredly. "I just, woke up in his hide-out."  
"What's the last thing you remember?" Naru asked suspiciously.  
"Me and Kakashi were talking in a tree, right after our little spar." He answered. Naru used a subtle amount of chakra to read his own and was slightly surprised when she found that he was actually telling the truth.  
"After coming out of hiding for a year, this was the last thing I expected." She sighed tiredly, helping the blind Uchiha sit down and grabbing him a bite to eat and some water.

Haradai wasn't sure wether or not he completely believed the guy's story, but he also knew Naru was happy to see her friend, even under these circumstances.  
So he would remain the vigilante, keeping an eye on him, in case he was a threat to her safety.  
"How'd you survive this long?" Naru asked after Sasuke had eaten some of the rabit stew she had made.  
"I use my chakra to sense my surroundings." He answered. "It doesn't take up too much chakra, so I can keep it up all day if I want to."  
"Why haven't you gone back to whatever village you come from?" Haradai asked uneasily.  
"I haven't been able to find my way back." He answered sadly. "Kinda hard when you have no idea where you are."

Naru wasn't sure what she was suppossed to do now. On one hand, she'd made a promise long ago to bring Sasuke back to the village. On the other, she wasn't sure if she should now.  
"Naru, what are you doing here?" She looked up, startled. "And who is the other man, I don't recognize his voice or chakra sygnature."  
"This is Haradai, a friend of mine." She told him. "And as for what I'm doing in the middle of the dead lands, I was banished from Konoha."  
His reaction was not what she expected. "WHAT THE FUCK!" He looked scared out of his wits. "DID THEY WANT THE UNIVERSE TO IMPLODE? THAT'S LIKE BLOWING OUT THE SUN!"  
Naru was slightly impressed with the length and passion of his rant, and moved. Here she had thought he hated her, and here he was, defending her honor against the village.

Haradai had had his doubts, but after hearing what Sasuke had to say, especially about her banishment, he decided he was an okay guy.  
"Sasuke, if you want I can take you back to the Land of Fire." Naru suggested later that night. "I'm certain if you explained everything, that you would be able to be a shinobi again. You say you can 'see' using chakra?" He nodded his affirmative. "Then there's no reason you can't be a shinobi there."  
Sasuke was at a crossroads. On one hand, he hadn't really wanted to leave Konoha. On the other, they had banished Naru because of him, he didn't feel Konoha was worthy of his return. He didn't want to go back to the place that shunned his best friend.

All that night, he contemplated his choices, until he finally came to a decision. "Naru, would you take me back to Konoha?" He asked over breakfast. "And then, would you return to it with me?"  
She hesitated before giving a response. "I'm not allowed within a mile of the Leaf village, I'm to be killed on sight. I can get you close enough to find your own way, but I can't go there myself."  
"But it was because of me that you were banished, if you brought me back, wouldn't they let you back?" He asked her.  
"I'm sorry Sasuke, but I have new commitments." She hadn't told him about Uzu no Sato yet. "It's gotten more complicated. I'll take you there, nothing more."

It took a month, a month of fun and jokes, but a month none-the-less, to get within three miles of the Leaf. "This is where you get off Sasuke." He'd been riding behind her because, though he could see, it was only when he was actually touching the ground so his chakra could spread out and show him what was there.  
They tied their horses to a tree and spent their last few minutes together. "I'll tell everyone your alright and doing well." Sasuke assured her. "I just hope they let me say it before tossing me into a cell."  
"Don't worry, all they got to do is confirm your telling the truth and your good to go!" She assured him in turn. "Just don't get yourself killed okay?"  
"Deal." He turned to go but stopped almost arubtly. "Someone's coming." He announced worredly. It was actually ten someone's from the feel of it.

Naru glanced in the direction of the village that had scorned her, and tilted her head to one side in a pout. "I think I know who they are." She finally said. "But just in case, prepare for a fight."  
Her weapon of choice happened to be a ninjato, a small knife about a foot long from handle to blade tip. It was a modest weapon, but in her hands could be quite deadly.  
Haradai unsheathed his sword but kept a relaxed stance, subtly moving closer to his mistress in a single move. Sasuke activated his sharingan, which despite the odds, still worked.  
They were ready.

Sakura didn't know what to say when she saw the friends she had been sure she would never see again. Over a year ago, one had left the village, the other banished.  
And now here they both were, staring back at her with the same disbelief. Though it had only been a year, she had trained hard and gotten stronger, she was no longer the weak fangirl and was glad to see they both saw it.  
The others had the same mixture of awe and disbelief on their faces as well. Even Akamaru's jaw had dropped unbelievingly.  
"Naru?" She finally asked. "Sasuke?"

"Hey Sakura." Naru greeted, sheathing her blade again. "Um, I was just keeping a promise!" She pushed Sasuke in her direction. "Hear him out before locking him up okay?" She asked innocently. "He's had it pretty rough lately. And tell everyone back home I hope their doing well!"  
She climbed back into the saddle of her horse, Haradai following close behind.  
"Naru, where are you going!" Sakura demanded. "I'm sure if we tell them all that you brought Sasuke back, you can come back to!"  
Naru sighed and turned in the saddle to face all her friends, who all gazed back into her ocean like eyes. "I've kept my promise Sakura, but I have other promises to keep."

"Wait!" Sakura called desperately. They had gone without word for over a year, not even Jaraiya had been able to find her, and now, when she was so close, she was just up and leaving again?  
"Your far enough from the village that you won't be attacked, can we at least sit and talk?" She asked quietly. The others voice their opinions, urging her to stay for just a few minutes.

Naru didn't know if it was a good idea, but Sakura was right, she was far enough away to be safe, and she could leave at any time.  
She wasn't sure how she could handle staying so close to her old home, but the lure of talking with her friends again was too great to ignore. With a final sigh, she jumped back down and retied her horse to the tree.  
"For a little while." She allowed, motioning for them to sit by her fire.

"So where did you go after what happened?" Seemed she was more interested in Naru then Sasuke at the moment.  
"For three months I traveled around, trying to find a meaning to continue my life." She admitted morosely. "I actually began to contemplate wether or not death would be preferable."  
None of them could believe that Naru Uzumaki, the ball of sunshine herself, had actually thought about suicide.  
"After that though, I found myself in a place called the dead lands, near a mountain range said to be cursed to swallow you and spit you out in either heaven or hell. Once there, I met an old man by the name of Pappy."  
She continued telling them about the time she had spent with the old man, his death, her vow to restore his old home, and her meeting with Haradai and later Sasuke.

Kiba was the first to speak after she finished. "So Sasuke's blind now and he doesn't remember nearly killing you with a chidori?"  
Sasuke paled when he heard that. "I DID WHAT NOW?" He cried. He immediatly turned to Naru. "Why didn't you tell me I did that! I could've killed you!"  
"I thought it better you didn't know." She said embarassedly. "Besides, it's harder than that to kill me." She patted her stomach self conciously. "Kiba, you still have no sense of tact."  
Kiba at least had the decency to appear sheepish and gave an apology, mainly because Akamaru had told him Naru had improved...a lot.

"So, how are things back in Konoha?" She asked. She hadn't realized how much she missed them all. Sakura turned her suddenly dead gaze to the ground, she wasn't looking forward to this.  
"Naru, the Leaf has fallen." She told Naru about Danzo's rise to power a month after she vanished, the war they had started with Iwa and won, and about the new laws that made even breathing in Danzo's direction an offense punishable by ten years in prison.  
She told how many of their old senseis who had refused to give up the third's teachings had gone into hiding and now lead a hidden rebellion. Finally, she told of the sannin's departure after being disgusted by what their village had become.

Hearing all these terrible things, Naru's heart ached, wishing she knew how to help them. "What about you, do you still believe in the Will of Fire?" She asked finally, afraid of the answer.  
"Remember what Kakashi said?" Sakura asked in turn. "Those who do not follow the rules are trash,..." Naru mentally finished the sentence, realizing Sakura didn't want to say anything in case they had unwanted guests.  
"Naru-san, it has come to my attention that you have grown stronger." Shino stated quietly. "You also seem to have matured mentally as well."  
"Yes, I suppose I have." She said with a small, almost apologetic smile. Her foxy grin suddenly took it's place though. "Then again, despite the bad part of the news, it makes me happy!"  
"Why?" Shikamaru asked. Sometimes he hated how the one thing he couldn't figure out was Naru Uzumaki. But then he would counter himself saying he loved a challenge and she was his best one.  
"Because it proves life without me is awful!" She said victoriously, pumping a fist in the air. "I'm awesome!"  
They sweatdropped.

In the shadows, Danzo watched with his usual conniving look. So Naru truly has found the ancient city of Uzu no Sato. It will make a wondrous base once I, 'convince' her to join me.  
With the next breeze, he vanished, as though he'd never been there at all. And to the many old friends sitting in the clearing, he never had been.

After another hour of reminicing and joking and tomfoolery, the group finally prepared to depart. "Don't get into any more trouble, got it Teme?" Naru joked, punching him playfully on the shoulder.  
"I think I've had enough of that." He assured her. He wouldn't be rejoining as a shinobi, but joining the resistance in their secret HQ, which Sakura had subtly told him through code on a piece of paper with ink infused with chakra.  
"Take care of yourself out there!" Neji told her.  
"Yeah, yeah!" She brushed him off easily. "Go on home, oh fated one!"  
"Do not allow your YOUTHFULNESS to dim, Naru-chan!" Lee warned her. "If it does, I shall run a hundred YOUTHFUL laps around the Leaf village!"  
"Right." Naru said hesitantly. Her youthful-ese was a little rusty, so it sounded like he was telling her to eat mud or run laps.

Haradai noticed Naru's sullen expression as they rode farther and farther from her home village. He wished she would be happy again, but he knew she was only sad that the visit was so short and that she couldn't see the village itself.  
As they rode to a nearby village, he pondered on what he thought his life would entail now.  
He would serve his mistress however she wished him to, be it to protect her from vagabonds and ninja, or to simply providing a shoulder for her tears, he would be there.  
He now wished only that he could make her dream a reality, and vowed to do everything in his power to bring the village Uzu no Sato back to life, whatever it took.

As for Naru herself, she faced the Sunset with passionate blue eyes. While many saw being banished, an end, she found it to be a new beginning, a new start, a new life entirely.  
And just like everything else she did, she would put everything she had into it. So she asked herself once more, what did she have?  
A will. A friend. A dream. A gift. A soul. A heart. A mind. A body. She had many things, and these would all aid her in her goal.  
The goal, to rebuild Uzu no Sato!

~~~~~~~~~~~ A week later.  
~~~~~~~~~~~

The duo was now riding through the land of wind, taking a short cut back to the dead lands. "Haradai, you said that your sword once belonged to your master, would you tell me about him?" Frankly Naru was bored out of her mind and there was nothing to see besides sand, sand, dust, and sand.

Haraidai was surprised by the question, but answered nonetheless. "His name was Takemaru, and he was a great man. He found me as an orphaned child and took me in and trained me. He was killed by the same tyrant you in turn defeated. I swore to him I would live on in his memory."  
Naru nodded. She liked the sound of this man, he sounded like a good man.

By the time the Sun had set, the two had finally arrived at Sunagakure. "Why did you lead us here, Naru-sama?" Haraidai asked curiously.  
"I have old friends here who I believe I have neglected for long enough." She answered vaugely. They entered without being detected and made their way to the compound where the Sabaku family lived in comfort together.  
"Alright, let's give Gaara a surprise." She whispered to her companion deviously.  
Slowly, oh so carefully, they snuck into Gaara's room, which thankfully, he was not in at the time.  
It wasn't long before all three Subaku siblings barged in the door, having been alerted by a silent alarm that there was an intruder in their house.  
They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Naru Uzumaki sitting on Gaara's body with a mysterious boy, grinning her trademark fox smirk at them.

"Yo Gaara!" She greeted him happily. "So how have you been?" Gaara had to fight the urge to slap his face. She had snuck into his bedroom and asked him how he had been?  
"You really are the number one most unpredictable ninja." He sighed, calling his sand back into the guard on his back.  
"Naru, what are you doing in Gaara's room with a strange boy?" Kankuro asked, wondering if the guy was her boyfriend or something.  
Of course they knew Naru had been banished, they'd have to, considering it had taken everything they had to hold Gaara back from destroying the Leaf village right after.  
"I thought I'd pop in for a little visit!" She pouted defensively. "And the strange boy, as you put it, is my new friend Haradai."

After they had finished speaking, Temari set up a room for Naru and Haradai to stay in for the remainder of their visit.  
Naru lay in her bed thinking about what her next move would be. 'Definetely going to start looking for people like me first. People without anyone precious in their lives. I'll offer them sanctuary in Uzu no Sato.'  
She slept with this peaceful thought, dreaming of the future she hoped to create for the outcasts of the world. Her own little utopia to share with whomever she wished.

~~STORY BREAK~~~~~~~ LC; YATTA! I'm done!  
Naruto; Why do you take so long for one chapter?  
LC; Cause I can't reel in my plot bunnies so I keep starting new stories.  
Sasuke; You need some self control.  
LC; HEY! You ran off to be with a pedo vamp! You have no room to lecture me!  
Naruto; She's got a point ya know.  
Sasuke;...F YOU! 


	3. Chapter 3

LC; Hello people of the computer-verse!  
Naruto; Welcome back to another episode of Uzukage!  
Sasuke; This week, on Uzukage, Naru's quest to revive Uzu no Sato begins!  
LC; Let's see who she'll find for her wondrous village!  
Naruto; I wonder if Danzo will manage to recruit her.  
LC; Most likely not but he's good for drama.  
Sasuke; Why am I blind?  
Lc;...Because you are awesome like that.  
Disclaimer; They are not mine! Though...maybe you could just give me Sasuke? *Kishimoto whistles and lawyer magically appears* Okay, okay! I get the picture!

Chapter 3; A decision, a new friend, and hopeful travels.

They didn't stay in Suna long. Naru didn't want to draw any unwanted attention through their gates. So at the end of the week, Naru and Haradai could be found packing their things in preperation.  
Naru was nervous though. She was going to start something new. Something not very many people had the guts to do! She was making her own hidden village.

Gaara found Naru on her way out. He had something important to talk to her about.

"Naru, do you have any idea how to go about making an entire hidden village?" He asked her as they walked slowly to the gates.  
The question caused Naru to stop in her tracks, open her mouth to answer, shut it again, and then smack herself on the forehead. "No idea what-so-ever." She grunted, rubbing her abused forehead.  
Gaara shook his head ruefully. Sometimes it seemed she had everything under control, others it seemed she was just winging it. Then again, that was Naru Uzumaki for ya.

Gaara told her some things about how to get a village started. The first step was getting the required amount of people to join. The second step was asking the daimyo of the area for permission. Then they would have to seek an alliance with an already established village before being considered one.  
It was all very complicated and many things could go wrong. By the time they reached the gates Naru was starting to actually doubt her ability to bring the village to power.  
It sounded like a lot of...math.

"Geez, you make it sound boring." Naru groaned, hanging her head. "I'm not sure I want to be a kage anymore! They don't get to have any fun!"  
Haradai sweatdropped. His mistress sounded absolutely...childish.  
Then again, she was only fourteen, an entire two years younger than him. So he couldn't really blame her. Besides, she was cute when she pouted. It made her seem even more innocent.

An hour later, the two rode their steeds through the desert, making good time. They were heading more northward now so they would reach the dead lands in two weeks.  
That is, if they were heading to the dead lands. Naru's first destination was going to be several small villages so they could see about recruiting any orphans.

It took three days to get to the nearest village, and there, they struck gold. Running, fleeing for his life, was a small boy. He looked to be only three, had white hair, and wore ragged clothes that were falling off.  
Naru leapt from her saddle and caught the boy as he tried to run past. She engulfed him in a hug as the angry mob appeared over the hill.  
They saw Naru holding the boy as though she would never let go and growled.

"Lady, let go of that demon!" The village leader ordered angrily. "He'll only stab you in the back! You don't understand what your getting into!"  
"Look at him!" Naru commanded. "He's just a child! What could he have done?"  
The village began roaring about droughts and a horrid disease that had spread since the boy had arrived. "If you hate him that much, then I'll take him off your hands." Naru said gravely, tightening her hold on the weeping child.

When the mob showed no signs of backing away, Haradai unsheathed his blade and stood before his mistress. "Leave the boy be." He ordered them.  
The villagers left them there on the road. Once they were gone, Naru looked down at the little boy in her arms. He was small, she could count his ribs, and his hair was snow white. Sticking out of the back of his neck was the reason he was hated. For there was a fin.

They made camp back in the forest in a small clearing. Naru made some clothes using an old blanket for the boy. He sniffed and wiped his nose. He didn't understand why the nice lady was helping him. She'd seen his deformity hadn't she?  
So why would she help someone like him? Why would she help a demon?  
He asked her this and she got tears in her eyes. He was terrified! What had he done to hurt the nice lady? Would they hate him now because of it?  
He wasn't sure what to do when the lady gave him another hug, holding him like she would never let go again.

"Your not a demon, your different." She told him gently. "Your you, and no one else. Don't let anyone tell you who you are. You should decide."  
He looked up and got a good look at his hero. She had glistening blue eyes that looked slitted. Her blonde hair hung like a curtain, long and straight, reaching her mid back. It framed her face giving her a slightly innocent and naive look.  
Three lines adorned each cheek. They looked suspiciouly like Kami had drawn them on with his faintest pencil.

"My name is Isamu." He told her quietly, preparing to be smacked and told he had no name. It never came. Instead, the lady smiled down at him and told him her own name. It was beautiful.

Later that night, Naru and Haradai sat in front of the fire, basking in it's warmth. "Haradai, he's the reason I chose to travel." Naru whispered, careful not to wake the sleeping child. "Children mistreated like him, like me."  
Haradai sighed sadly and gazed at the face of the sleeping boy. A child so young, so used to hatred. It was horrifying.  
"Then we'll try to help those children." He decided. "We'll house them in Uzu no Sato."  
Naru sighed contentedly and lay down across Haradai's lap. Who's face was turning redder than the fire.

"M-m-m-mistress, w-wh-what are y-you d-d-doing?" He spluttered, trying not to bolt and run. Naru yawned and turned to look up at him before grinning impishly.  
"I'm tired and you are going to be my pillow since Isamu is using mine." She told him. "Plus I don't want to move."  
As Naru fell asleep in his lap Haradai surveyed the area around them. Convinced they were alone, he relaxed marginally and gazed down at his mistress' sleeping face.

At midnight Naru woke up and relieved Haradai from sentry duty. She got up to stretch and felt the approach of the villagers. They must have seen their fire, she surmised. Unsurprised, she began laying out a trap.  
Oh it wouldn't hurt them, just discourage them from attacking anymore. Well, that, and give her a pretty good laugh.

Around dawn, the mob of villagers stepped into her little trap. Which was revealed to be a ditch of mud hidden under false grass with pretty orange and blue glitter falling from the trees overhead.  
Naru's laughter ended up waking both Isamu and Haradai from slumber. Seeing the hilarious sight of the many village men floundering in the multi colored mud was too much and both fell into fits of laughter.

After leaving a few clones to help the men out of the pit, they continued on their way on horseback. Isamu rode on the white mare with Naru, leaving Haradai to flank them like a guard.  
As they rode they told Isamu about their lives, taking turns when they reached the part of their meeting and onward.  
"You should've seen his face when I showed him how I could bend the water!" Naru told him, taking out her water bottle. "Then again maybe you'll make the same face."  
She drew out the water but instead of a normal sphere she made it into a galloping horse.

For a week they traveled like this until they came up to what appeared to be an abondand carriage. From inside came moans of pain and pleading, along with a baby's wail.  
Naru and Haradai leapt from their steeds and burst the door down to see a rouge ninja raping a young woman. She kept pleading for the man to stop and leave her and her child alone but the ninja took no notice. When he realized that he'd been interrupted he turned to the two intruders, leaving the woman quivering on the floor of the carriage.

"I don't take kindly to interruptions." He growled at them, flashing through signs. "Fire style: Dragon Fire jutsu!" Flames erupted from his mouth only to be put out by the water sheild that enveloped Naru.  
Before he could try again Haradai had stepped behind him and held his blade to the man's throat.  
"Let's step outside for a moment." He suggested to the nin. "I wouldn't want to accidently slice off your head in here."

Haradai took the man away while Naru tried to comfort the woman. He led the man past Isamu and the horses and ignored the boy's questions.  
The two walked to another clearing and then Haradai removed his blade.

"What you were doing to that poor woman is unforgivable." Haradai said, stepping back. "If you win this fight, you go free. If I win, you die."  
No sooner had the nin turned with kunai in hand then his head was flying through the air.  
"I win." Haradai spoke callously. After wiping away the blood from his blade he walked back to his mistress.

Unaware of Haradai's actions, or at least not seeing them, Naru tried to comfort the poor woman. Only when Naru handed the crying babe into her hands did she stop sobbing.  
Naru calmly rubbed the woman's back soothingly while she fed the baby. Just before Haradai's return the woman spoke.  
"I can never thank you enough for saving me." She said graciously. "Me and my son."  
"It was nothing." Naru told her soothingly. "Trust me, I've fought tougher."

"My name is Akane and this is my son, Ichiro." She introduced herself after she finished crying. "We've been on the road since his father died, trying to find a new home."  
Naru and Haradai exchanged a glance in which Haradai tilted his head to the forest in a suggestive manner. He'd taken care of the rapist.

Isamu finished tying up the horses before walking over and looking down at the baby. "How old is he?" He asked timidly.  
"Nearly five months." Akane answered kindly.  
"Akane, would you like to travel with us?" Naru asked suddenly. "It would be better then travelling alone and I happen to know a village that would be happy to accept your little family."

Akane almost couldn't believe it. Here, where no other would, was a young girl offering her sanctuary. But she knew she couldn't ever accept, she'd only bring horrible danger to them.  
"I can't." She said sadly, hugging her baby closer. "You don't know the reason I had to leave after my husband died." She took a shaky breath before continueing. "I'm a monster. A freak of nature!"  
Naru took matters into her own hands and lifted the woman's face up by her chin.

"Your no more a monster then I am." Naru said calmly. "No more a monster then the boy behind me." She gestured for Isamu to turn around and lift his hair from his neck, revealing the fin.  
"A true monster, is someone who kills without remorse." Naru continued in a hollow voice, thinking back on that rouge nin.  
Akane's tears started again in earnest and Naru held her while she wept about her life. How she was presecuted and how her husband had always protected her and their son.

By the time they had all shared their stories, the sun was setting. They decided to rest up before continueing. Akane and Ichiro would be joining them on the road, lending the shelter of her carriage to them all.  
The duo had turned from trio to now a quintet in less than 24 hours. Both horses were now employed in pulling the carriage and the party road on the roof.

Naru entertained the baby by making some water dance around it's head. Ichiro had a lot of fun trying to catch the elusive liquid.  
For two days the group traversed the path until they came to another village. Before entering it Naru gave Isamu instructions to wear bandages around his neck so no one would see the fin. When he had asked why Naru said they needed to be inconspicious so they could dig up a little information.

Tying the horses to a post outside a bar/brothel, Naru told Haradai to stay there and guard everyone while she was gone. She'd hear rumors that this town was filled with missing nin.  
The only reason it hadn't been wiped out was because no one could send enough jounin to take care of them. Keeping the cap to her bottle off, she opened the door to the bar and walked inside.

All the noise in the room vanished when she stepped in. Naru took no notice of this and walked past several tables until she reached the counter, where she took a seat on one of the stools.  
"What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?" Well, that didn't take long at all. Naru turned her head and saw a young man with long blonde hair. He wore standard ninja clothes and had a crossed out Iwa headband.  
On his hands were twin mouths.

"I'm looking around for a little work." Naru explained to the man. "Any chance you know where a girl can get some decent cash?"  
Deidara smirked before introducing himself. "As it turns out, I need a female partner for this job I've been comissioned for." He told her about how he needed a kunoichi to seduce and distract the guards of this important man so he could get in and assinate him. The man was apparently some kind of bandit boss who was causing too much trouble to the daimyo of some little country.

"And your willing to split the cash?" Naru asked suspiciously. One could never know with missing nin. "What's in it for you, doing a favor for me?"  
"I just want a little info on why you showed up with that little party waiting outside." Deidara said innocently. "Bad things can happen to women and children in this town."  
"Alright Deidara, I'll play the part in your mission." Naru said, shaking his offered hand. "Let's get out of here and I'll introduce you to everyone."

After introductions Haradai asked why Naru would take a seduction mission. He hated the thought of his mistress selling her body just for a little money.  
"Relax, it's not like I'll be having sex with the guy." Naru joked around. "I'm on distraction detail while Dei here gets inside to the head honcho."  
"So why is such a group travelling together?" Deidara asked curiously. "We're going to Uzu no Sato." Naru told him vaugely. "A place that accepts anyone who wants to start over."

Leaving the group to camp on the outskirts of the forest, Deidara and Naru made their way to the bandit hideout. "Alright, I need you to distract them until I give you the sygnal." Deidara informed her. "Trust me, you'll know it when you see it."  
Naru chose not to ask what he meant.  
"And afterwards?" She asked. "Do I take them out?"  
Deidara just shrugged, leaving it up to her discretion. Naru didn't like killing if she didn't have to, so the guards would probably survive the night.

Deidara thought about what the girl was doing while he waited for the guards to fall under her spell. She was apparently starting up her own hidden village.  
A place where anyone who wanted to start over was accepted. Even someone like him. It was an interesting prospect. Just as the guards noticed Naru he noticed two people behind him.

One had a large scythe, the other had bright orange hair and about a dozen different piercings. "Hello Deidara, we are akutsuki." The orange headed one said formally.

Naru had used her sexy jutsu, (Modified to have scanty clothes) and now she was throwing her over-sized bust at the two guards.  
"Excuse me, but would you two happen to know where a lady can rest for the night?" She hugged herself and mock shivered, pressing her boobs closer together. Also drawing the men's eyes to her chestal regions.  
"You wouldn't believe the things I've seen trying to find a village." She crooned, pressing her body closer to the guards'.

As she chatted up the guards she waited for the signal to bail. Why was it taking so long? Had she actually missed it? He'd said she'd know it when she saw it.  
What would she do if she couldn't recognize the signal? Stay here until the guards dragged her away to their tents! Hell no!

"So you want me to join?" Deidara asked after the two had told him about their organization. So far he thought it would be annoying. Naru's deal seemed better.  
"Don't decide now." The leader told him. "Meet us at the Bridge of Heaven in two days if you want to join. If you don't show, we'll assume you refuse."  
Both men left and Deidara suddenly realized how long they'd been talking. "Crap, Naru's gonna kill me." He muttered, running inside the building.

The men were just starting to show her where their tent was when the entire building was enveloped in flames. Naru screamed girlishly and the guards sheilded her from falling debris.  
Before the two guards could blink, Naru had ran into the forest and was heading to the meeting place. If that was Deidara's idea of a signal, he needed some lessons on stealth.

She waited by the river for Deidara to show up. He showed up fairly quickly, looking like he'd just had a holiday. One thing danced through her mind when she saw his face. 'Pyromaniac.'  
"Sorry it took so long." Deidara apologized happily, toying with a piece of clay. "I got held up."  
"Whatever, let's get paid and get back to the others." Naru rolled her eyes jokingly.

Later that night, Naru decided to ask Deidara what he was going to do next. She found him standing outside, deep in thought with a worried expression upon his face.  
She was a little apprehensive of interrupting him, but if anyone needed a break, it looked like Dei did.  
Thus, using the patented Naru logic, if someone needed help removing a stick from their ass, try to make them laugh. Or freak them out, whichever one was easier.

Since he was leaning against a tree, Naru decided to climb up it from the opposite side and drop down for a little surprise.  
Once she was in position, she donned her foxyiest grin and flipped over so she was hanging by her knees and her face was a few inches from Deidara's.  
Who's face looked like someone had stuck his finger in a electric socket.  
"DON'T DO THAT!" Deidara roared angrily.

"So what were you thinking about?" Naru asked from her perch. "You seemed kinda out of it. If I were an enemy you'd already be dead."  
"I'm thinking about this offer I got a little while ago." Deidara told her coldly, still angry about the trick. "They want me to join some organization they got but I'm not so sure about it."  
"So why are you thinking about it so hard?" She asked him curiously. "It can't be that hard can it?"

Long after Naru left him, Deidara stood staring up at the starfilled sky. Here were people who didn't shudder when they shook his hands.  
People who actually thought his ability with clay, his art, was cool. Someone who didn't care if he was a missing nin or not and trusted him. Against that, was the promise of power in a new world order? What good were things like that if you had no reason for them? Sure, it'd be nice to hold that kind of power, but what would he do with it?  
He'd still be hunted. Still be presecuted.

By the time the others came out and made breakfast, he had figured out what he wanted to do. He'd stick with Naru and her gang and see this Uzu no Sato.  
He'd help make it a reality and bring people like himself there. He'd start over. He would get a new life.

THE END OF CHAPPIE 3! BABY!  
LC; TA DA!  
Naruto; Not bad I guess.  
Sasuke; At the rate your going it'll take forever to make the village.  
LC;...I hadn't thought about that.  
Naruto; You hadn't!  
LC; It's just, the journey is a lot more fun then the destination! 


	4. Chapter 4

LC; Here it is! Chappie 4 of Uzukage!  
Naruto; The only show without pictures.  
Sasuke; With blind ninja.  
LC; Your never letting that go are you?  
Sasuke; YOU MADE ME BLIND!  
LC; Be quiet you little baby!  
Disclaimer; They aren't mine so leave me the hell alone, I got enough on my plate right now.

Chapter 4; A Journey, a few explosions, and a triumphant return.

Sasuke disliked lots of things. Like being mind controlled into nearly killing his best friend. Yeah, he hated that. But there was one thing he hated above all others.  
Pity. Four letters, but so many levels of hate. So many heated glares that he sent to absolutely nobody since glaring at random people in the streets would no doubt be bad.

He never thought he'd even think this, but he was jealous of Naru Uzumaki! She was damned lucky! She was able to go where she wanted when she wanted, so long as it wasn't in the village.  
She could go to any country she wanted so long as she wasn't caught. She was even building her own village for Pete's sake!  
He'd never been jealous of someone before. It was a new feeling and one he didn't like. But that didn't make it any less true.

Danzo watched the disgruntled Uchiha through the Sandaime's crystal ball, which he'd taken from storage. He needed to do something about that.  
At the rate things were going the Uchiha's loyalty was constantly in question. He needed the Uchiha to stay here to marry and make little Uchihas. How else was he going to get a constant supply of Sharingan eyes?  
Sighing his frustration he thought to the last thing he'd seen when his clone had been tailing Naru Uzumaki.

She'd last been travelling to Suna. Probably to visit that jinchuriki friend of her's, Gaara. He hadn't been able to find her since then though.  
He didn't even know if she was still in Suna anymore. For all he knew she was in his backyard! He needed to think of a way to bring her back to begin training under him to become Konoha's weapon. He wasn't able to come up with anything though.  
All of her friends were clan heirs, abroad, or would look suspicious if they went missing. She'd made friends in high places.

Speaking of Naru, one could find her travelling through Unnamed lands through a mountain pass. Behind her was a carriage of people, her friends and new family.  
It had taken longer, but now they were almost to Uzu no Sato. 'Almost home.' Naru thought wirly.

Haradai didn't see any water. All he saw were mountains, trees, and rocks. The occasional animal, sure. But no water. So where was Uzu no Sato?  
Naru stopped at the foot of the largest mountain and began flashing through some signs. When she had finished, a large cave had appeared on the rock surface. It was a tunnel that seemed to go on for ages.

Naru sealed up at the entrance after everyone had gone through. She then led everyone through the tunnel to the ocean on the other side.  
Everyone gasped when they saw the wide expanse of clear blue water. It sparkled in the sun like a diamand. The sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks and sand echoed all around the cave exit, reveberating through their heads.  
Naru stepped forward until she was knee deep in the water. Raising one arm, she swept it and the ocean water to the left. Using the other arm she swept it to the right.  
Thus the ocean parted like the Red Sea.

Which is when they came to a problem. How to bring down the carriage and all their supplies, down the stairs to the city below?  
"I got an idea that may result in serious fun." Naru said with a michevous grin. "First, all of you will lead the horses and breakable stuff down the stairs, then Dei will send up a flash bomb to tell me it's safe to go."  
Wary of their undisputed leader's idea of fun, they did as they were told quickly. When they had moved out of the way, Deidara sent up the flash bang, signalling Naru to let loose.

They watched as ice crept over the stairs until it made a very slick ramp. When Haradai realized what his mistress was planning he had split reactions.  
On one hand, he really really really wanted to be the one riding down that ramp! It probably was going to be fun! On the other, he knew from personal expierence that if she slid down that on the carriage, she'd crash into the first solid thing in the way.  
Which would mean injuries to his mistress, something he could not tolerate.

He tried to tell Naru it was a bad idea, but it was too late. "LOOK OUT BELOOOOOWWWWW!" The carriage, with Naru sitting on the driver's seat, sped past in a blur. "WHERE ARE THE BRAKES ON THIS THING?"  
Haradai watched in a mixture of awe and horror as Naru sped down the streets of Uzu no Sato reaching unimaginable speeds.  
Naru's eyes were wide as saucers as she watched everything move in a blur. It took all the control she had not to raise up her arms and cry WHEE!

Of course, the rush of the ride ended when she saw she was heading straight for the largest tower in the village. 'CRAP!' She mentally screamed, gathering her will to create a soft road block to at least slow them down.  
The water slowed her down considerably but she was still on a collision course with the tower. "Kage Bunshin Jutsu!" She screamed, summoning up a dozen clones that managed to stop the cart an inch from the building.

Everyone, even little Ichiro, breathed a sigh of relief. Way too close for comfort. Deidara shook his head and tried to figure out wether or not Naru was more than a little insane.  
Akane tried, rather unsuccessfully, to quell her speeding heart. Never before had she seen such reckless behavior! It was horrifying seeing her personal heroin racing to what she thought was her death.  
What kind of girl had she been following?

When they caught up to the carriage they saw Naru sitting on the driver's seat looking like she'd just had some fun. Which judging from her face when she'd been barreling down, she had.  
"Let's do that again!" Cue group sweatdrop. "What? It was fun! I'm entitled to fun!" She argued playfully, jumping down.  
"Anyway, what do you guys think of Uzu no Sato?" She gestured around them, at the sparkling buildings and the clean roads. At the top of the dome, was a giant crystal that provided sunlight to the entire city.  
A beautiful paradise waiting for someone to take haven inside.

Isamu had never seen such a beautiful, wonderful place before. It seemed he needed about forty-eight more eyes to take in everything he was seeing.  
Under the water, he felt so safe. Like nothing could hurt him with those waves crashing overhead, distant and constant. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath of this strange new world's air and felt at peace.  
For the first time in his life, he was at peace. Even if he had died right then, he wouldn't feel any regret. Because he had followed lady Uzumaki to the ends of the world and found the garden of Eden, just like she'd promised.

Akane felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. Here it was, a place she wouldn't be shunned. An entire village where her baby boy could grow up without fear to be a great man.  
Maybe someday he would join the ninja academy Naru planned to start. Then he would fight to protect a place where the outcasts of the world could come and live freely. That was something she would be proud of. Looking down at little Ichiro, she vowed to do her best to look after the city as well. But not just for her baby. But for Naru Uzumaki as well.  
The Uzukage, lady Uzumaki.

Deidara could only think about one thing. He was glad he'd turned down that offer. If he hadn't, he'd never gotten to see the most wonderful place in the world like the one right before his eyes.  
Sure, it would be a little weird to work for someone who was younger than him, but at least it was someone he respected. Someone who didn't flinch when they shook his hand. Who's eyes lit up when he told them about how his hands worked.  
He could make a life here. No problem.

Haradai was amazed. For a few minutes when they'd first met he'd been convinced he'd sworn his life to a madwoman. Now, seeing this, he realized which was the really mad one.  
It was him, for ever doubting the words that fell from the lips of Naru Uzumaki. Thinking of his departed master, he knew he could never find a better person to live for. No one better than lady Uzumaki, someone who could offer up everything for nothing in return.

For two days they all got moved in to their respective homes near the center tower. The same tower the entire group had to nearly bully Naru into moving into.  
The top floor were magnificant living quarters meant for the leader of the village.  
"I don't know what to do with half of the stuff in there!" She argued frantically. "What if I brake something? I can't very well replace anything!"

To Naru's displeasure they all managed to hoist her up there anyway. So now she sat on the bed of her boring blue and white room.  
Sure, she wore only blue and black now, but that was because she was a ninja. That did not mean she had to have a boring room too. Cracking her knuckles menacingly, she began to redecorate.  
By time she was done it was midnight of the first day and she was beat. But at least now her room had a splash of color in it. Her seashell collection rested on the mantle of her fireplace. A bright orange, fur rug lay from the foot of her bed to the baby blue couch. On the side-table she had placed a picture of team seven, one of Pappy and her, and finally one of all her new friends, Garra and his siblings, and her.

The things she'd added had to take the places of things she had relocated. The black and white pictures of past leaders she'd moved from the mantle to the walls.  
The curtains she'd tucked away safely in the back of her closet and replaced with some purple ones. On the coffee table in front of the couch she decided to put a figurine she'd gotten in Suna. It was of a large fox sitting proudly, his head cocked the side.  
Gaara had questioned her purchase but she felt she needed something to remind her, though she didn't tell him that. She wanted to remember why she'd had to leave her old home for this new one.

That completed the living quarters of her new suite. So now she lay down on the warm, velvety covers of the bed and closed her eyes. A new day would soon be dawning.  
She couldn't wait to see what she'd make of it.

The second day was spent exploring the many twists and turns of the village. Naru spent the majority of the day at the graveyard, where Pappy and many other people were buried.  
Haradai found her there praying for Pappy's soul.  
"Lady Uzumaki?" He called uncertainly. He didn't wish to disturb her.  
"You need something Haradai?" Naru asked curiously.  
"The others sent me because everyone is curious about what we'll do next." He reported quickly. "Everyone's waiting for you."  
"Right, let's go then!" Naru said happily, running to the gates. "Race ya!"

"We need to start letting people know about us so we can get jobs to make money." Deidara proposed at the meeting. "To do that though, we have to wear something recognizable, like a headband, to show our affiliation."  
Naru thought to all the time she spent training under Pappy. "I think there's a storage room filled with headbands with the village's symbol on them in the basement of the tower." She told him. "We also need to bring more people here." Akane pointed out. "I highly doubt we're the only outcasts of the world."  
"My sentiments exactly." Naru said demurly. "I think we all know the danger our kind are constantly in. That's why I propose to send Haradai to Iwa, to search there for people who want to come. I myself will be going on a trip to the land of Wave with Isamu."

There was instantanous uproar to her proposition. Naru knew one of the tests of a great leader was to make people see things her way, so she stood up for herself.  
And slammed her palm down on the table. "Listen! I know for a fact these mountains aren't as safe as they first appear. I want to be sure that all of you will be safe in this village. That's why I propose that Akane and her son Ichiro stay here to look after the place while Deidara does various missions to gain money. Haradai, you swore your life to me but if I can help it you'll never have to shed your own blood in my name. Iwa isn't a safe place to me because I'm in their bingo book, but I'm sure there are various orphans in need of homes in that land." Haradai nodded sagely as he saw the reasoning behind the lunacy. "Isamu and I will be going to Wave because I want him to see something and to gather some intelligence from old friends of mine."

It took a good hour, but eventually Naru had them all convinced it was the best method availiable. "We'll all return to the mountain pass in a month's time, no excuses." She finished, dissmissing them all. "I'm going to put my trust in all of you to help me save the helpless ones. I'm trusting you to help me save those who don't know how to save themselves."  
While waiting for everyone, Akane was to begin organizing everything in the village. From the ancient library to old records, it was going to be her job to make sure it was all catagorized and filed away neatly.  
Deidara would take up missions like before to spread the word of Uzu no Sato and earn money. Haradai would travel to seek out the outcast and downtrod people of Iwa. Finally Isamu and Naru would travel to Wave to see about her old friends in the rebellion against Danzo.  
Because if there was one thing Pappy had drilled into her head, it was that an unknown enemy was a dangerous one.

They all met up the next day at the village gates. Naru exorted her will upon the ocean outside the doors before Haradai opened them.  
The horses and people climbed up somewhat solemnly, hesitant to leave their new home. Their only comfort was that it was real. They had touched it and lived in it for two short days. Akane closed the doors after them, holding Ichiro close to her heart and praying for their safety. Upon reaching the surface, they met with Danzo himself.

Without waiting to see what he wanted, Naru closed the gates to her village. Meaning she let the water fill back over the stairs and let the tide come in.  
"Greetings Naru Uzumaki." He greeted her formally. On either side of him stood an operative of his ROOT. They stood tall and emotionless next to their master, not saying a thing. "What a pleasure to see you again."  
"Danzo, I heard recently you'd been made hokage. I congratulate you." She said civily, her face straight and her posture loose.

"I came to offer you a home back in Konoha." He sure didn't waste time beating around the bush, she had to give him that much.  
"Sorry Danzo, but I have new commitments." Naru said politely, kind of hoping they wouldn't have to fight. "I am a bit busy running my own operations. We're both busy people, you hokage, me trying to keep this ragtag group of pals fed and clothed."  
"I can offer your friends a home as well." He pointed out stiffly, his small smile faltering slightly at her tone. "You can become a shinobi again and your friends would not be turned away."  
"I'm afraid that would be counter-productive." Naru replied. "Besides, I highly doubt the people of Konoha will be more accepting of them then of me."

Danzo knew this was a bit of a gamble, but he needed that girl to join him. Alone she was a possible threat. With her new powerful friends she was a certainty. Especially with her new abilities. He'd give his other arm to know how that crazy old man had implanted his gekkie genkai into the girl. It was a mysterious process he thought might involve some kind of ritual.  
He needed to pull out his secret weapon.  
"It is true I am hokage." He said slowly, choosing his words carefully. He was no fool, making her angry near such a large body of water would be foolhardy. "As hokage, I am able to read certain confidential files left by previous kage."

"Let me guess, you read something in this file that you think would intrest me?" She asked quizically. "Maybe you found some blackmail material like painting the hokage monuments?"  
"Actually, I found information on your parents." He said wirly, grinning gruesomely.  
Naru's eyes widened at the info he was offering to her. "My parents left me the day I was born on October tenth, the day of the Kyubi attack." She told him fiercly. "They were probably some shinobi that died in battle. Or maybe civilians killed by the fox. Whoever they were they're dead!"

"They may be dead but it might interest you to know who they were." He said, mentally beginning to panic. He had next to nothing on the girl other than her heritage, which he was extremely pissed he hadn't known about before. If that fool Sarutobi had told him she was the fourth's daughter he'd have recruited her while she was young.  
"Knowing their names won't bring them back or let me be accepted by Konoha." Naru said sternly, moving her hand deliberatly closer to her kunai pouch.  
This signaled Haradai to move Isamu behind her and to place his hand on the hilt of his katana. Deidara dug his hands in his pockets casually, fingering some of the explosive clay he always carried.

"Leave Danzo, I decline." Naru ordered him seriously. "I want you out of these mountains, I want you as far away from Uzu no Sato as physically possible. We're no where near Konoha, and you have no idea about my abilities. If you fight me on this, I won't lose."  
The two ROOT operatives looked questioningly at their master. Did they fight or leave now? Who did he want them to fight?  
"I suggest you reconsider Uzumaki." Danzo growled threateningly. "If we fight here you and your friends will die."

Naru bit her lip in concentration, trying to see what their chances were. The two ROOT were unknowns, dangerous. Isamu was just a child, he couldn't protect himself.  
"Isamu, I want you to dive under the water." During the second day, they had discovered Isamu had grown gills under his ears. Allowing him to breathe under water.  
"Yes, lady Uzumaki." He said obediantly, turning and jumping under the waves. He'd stay until lady Uzumaki came to find him.  
"Danzo, this is your last chance to leave." She warned him.

ENDOFCHAPTERBABY!?WHATKINDOFEVILMONSTERAMI?OHTHAT'SRIGHT,LC!  
LC; I just want it to be written in the record that if I die you won't find out what happens.  
Naruto; I sincerely hope your not going to make them wait for it.  
Sasuke; Otherwise I don't think you'll live long enough to type the next chapter up.  
LC;...I was going to take a break to work on something else but...  
Both; Your insane! 


	5. Chapter 5

LC; Hiya peoples of the computer-verse!  
Naruto; Geez your lucky.  
Sasuke; Yeah, you wrote another chapter for Blue Jay without anyone killing you over this one.  
LC;...That's kinda morbid don't you think.  
Sasuke; No it's not. It's true.  
LC;...F u!  
Naruto; Hey! Don't F u Sasuke! Only I can F u Sasuke! Sasuke, f u!  
Sasuke; Get in line. *Points behind him.*  
*One hundred people waiting for their turn to tell Sasuke F u.*  
Disclaimer; Nope, they are not completely mine. I'm just sort of borrowing them without asking or the intention to return them. Ever.

Chapter 5; A Fight, a sorrowful good-bye, and new friends.

"Danzo, this is your last chance to leave." She warned him. Danzo muttered to his subordnates, assigning them targets. He was leaving alright, but he was taking the girl with him if it was the last thing he did!  
Judging from the sudden angry outlook of the sea, it just might be.

Without warning the two ROOT ran off to the side, followed closely by Haradai and Deidara. Leaving Danzo and Naru to face off.  
"No one can say I didn't try." She muttered angrily. Flashing through signs, she cried. "Water Style, Water Dragon Jutsu!" A great beast rose from the water, following Naru's direction straight for the old hokage.  
Danzo called out an earth shield jutsu and the dragon turned it to mud. However, Danzo stood unharmed behind the mud pit.

"Earth Style, mud ball shot jutsu!" Danzo cried, using the mud to create large bullets firing straight for Naru. Dodging them with ease, Naru called on the water to form a whip in her hands.  
While she fought with the whip to get in his guard, she sent water underneath the sand behind Danzo, patiently waiting for her command to strike.

Danzo could feel the sand beneath his feet shifting. He didn't like the looks of things at all. He could barely keep her water whip at bay and he was tiring fast.  
Maybe it was time he started excersicing more. Damn paperwork making him soft and taking up all his time! He hardly had time to personally train his ROOT anymore!

Farther off to the right, Haradai fought sword to kunai against on of the ROOT. He'd tried to outspeed the guy but he kept coming, never far behind.  
His speed not helping him much, he'd switched to immediate offense. He needed to hurry and finish this and rejoin lady Uzumaki. He didn't trust that Danzo character. Something told Haradai that Danzo would use any means necessary to gain victory.  
Haradai couldn't let that happen.

Deidara was angry beyond belief. This stupid little insect wouldn't stay still long enough to be caught in an explosion! It was a waste of clay fighting this guy! So instead of relying solely on his clay as he normally did, he switched from various other explosives in the hopes of catching the guy off guard. So far he'd only managed to break the guy's left hand, but at least that left him with a few openings.  
He had to finish this chump, before Naru or Haradai got into some serious trouble.

Back with Naru, she was almost ready to decapitate Danzo. She was about to when suddenly he vanished! His whole body seemed to flicker before dissappearing from sight. Then she blinked and he was back!  
"Okay I'll bite." She muttered before speaking up. "How did you do that?"  
But then she saw it. His arm, showed briefly by the fluttering sleeve. His arm, covered in sharingan eyes! That man, that monster, had imbedded sharingan eyes into his arm!  
Which raised the question, who's eyes are those?

"You disgusting, sick, bastard." Naru spoke in but a whisper, but he heard it none the less. "Those eyes, did you take them from the eyes of the men and women killed in the Uchiha clan massacre?"  
"I'm sorry you had to see that." Danzo said stiffly, rolling up his sleeve. "And yes, a good number of them came from there."  
She shuddered at the absolute uncaring tone he carried. "You know I must thank you for bringing the Uchiha back. I feared I would never get more Uchiha eyes. Though it complicates things that he's blind now."  
"Your going to take Sasuke's eyes?" She asked disbelievingly.

"No, I don't want his eyes." Danzo spoke honestly. "I am merely going to wait for his children to unlock the sharingan. Then I will replace the eyes I've lost."  
"You are one sick mother and you have my pity." Naru said in all seriousness. "But that's beside the point. Right now, I'm going to kill a kage."  
Without warning the water under the sand shot out, entangling Danzo in it's unbreakable grip. He gasped in as much air as he could before he was stuck inside the orb of liquid.

Before Naru could celebrate her victory however, the ROOT fighting Haradai appeared directly behind her. Seeing the kunai in his hand, Naru froze and began thinking a mile a minute. She needed collateral. (?)  
"You can kill me, but then you won't be able to thaw your master out." She said, as the water orb began to freeze. "You won't get him out in time. He'll freeze to death, his heart nothing but a frozen ice block." She took a moment to think again. "Okay that wouldn't be a big difference but you get the idea."

The two ROOT looked questioningly at Danzo and he nodded, scowling. Both Root moved beside the orb and waited for Naru to release them.  
Without warning two more streams of water shot out, enveloping both shinobi. "Never trust a shinobi boys." She said, hands on her hips. "Especially one with everything on the line."  
"What do we do with them?" Haradai asked. Personally he wanted to slit their throats now while they were defenseless.  
"I'll take them to Fire country and drop them off there." Naru answered. "Killing the hokage isn't something we want our village known for before it even begins."

"But when you let them go they'll attack you!" Deidara pointed out. "Not to mention the fact I'm fairly certain they can't hold their breath that long."  
"They don't have to." Naru answered cryptically. "Only long enough to cross the border with a shadow clone." She summoned up a clone of herself with enough chakra to keep the orbs going until they crossed the borders. After wards she staggered a bit before turning to the ocean behind them.  
Searching through it's depths, she found where Isamu was hiding and used the water to push him up.

"That didn't take long." Isamu deadpanned. Here he had been thinking that these guys were super strong. But lady Uzumaki had beaten them in under ten minutes! Or maybe she was just really strong.  
"Our plans are unchanged." Naru told them. "Let's find where the horses went running and get out of here."

After collecting their rides, they all set off in different direction upon exiting the mountain pass. While Deidara ran into the distance and Haradai became just a dot on his horse, Naru pondered the pass.  
The genjutsu had been up. Did that mean Danzo had found another way in? But in the maps Pappy made her memorize the mountains completely encircled the beach. There shouldn't be another way in. To be safe, Naru placed several traps in the cave entrance. Only she would be able to navigate through there unscathed now.

As they rode, Naru thought back to what Danzo said about her parents. She'd always been told they'd been a hooker who'd gotten pregnant and died in childbirth and a dirty shinobi who died in the fox attack.  
But the way Danzo phrased his proposal, it seemed her parents were something more. Something much stronger and definetly better known.  
Never before had she given thought to them. She'd just always accepted it as one of the things she'd never know and moved on.  
It was something she had never questioned.

Isamu knew lady Uzumaki was deep in thought, so he remained silent. He knew people did not like being disturbed by him. One time he had accidently interrupted a man to correct him about his name and he'd almost died.  
Actually, that was the same day he had run away and been caught by lady Uzumaki. Maybe interrupting wasn't that bad if it let him meet people like her.  
Maybe he should talk more.

"Isamu, your awfully quiet." He gasped and looked up into Naru's face. (He was sitting in front of her on the white mare) "I was thinking about how we met." He said quietly. He didn't normally talk a lot. He felt safer in silence. Especially away from the safe haven Uzu no Sato.  
Come to think of it, hadn't lady Uzumaki said she had something to show him in Wave? That was why he was here wasn't it?  
'Wonder what it is.' He thought, looking ahead at the dirt path they were on.

"Lady Uzumaki?" He knew it was risky but he wanted to not be such a burden. "Would you teach me to be a ninja too?"  
"Is that what you want, or is it something you think will please me?" She asked him. She didn't want anyone becoming a shinobi for her. She wanted to be enough to protect her people.  
"I don't want to be a burden." Isamu answered truthfully. "I want to protect you, lady Akane, little Ichiro, Haradai and Deidara too. I don't want to be the one being protected."

Naru understood his wish to be the protector instead of the protected. She understood better than he knew she did. Because she had felt that way as well.  
"We start later today." She decided, but would not say another word on the matter.

At lunch time, they stopped for a break. Isamu was fit to burst with questions about becoming a ninja. However, he didn't want to make lady Uzumaki change her mind, so he kept quiet.  
"We'll start with discovering chakra." Naru said, taking a seat in front of him. "Put your hands together into the ram sign, like this." She showed him, then began patiently moving his fingers in the right position.  
"Chakra is our life force." She said mystically, calling upon her memories of Iruka-sensei. "Take a deep breath, follow it down the throat and into the lungs. Feel the oxygen travelling through your whole body, intertwining with your organs."

Isamu kept his mind blank as he followed his own blood through his body. "Now, take another breath, push that feeling down to the soles of your feet, to the very tips of your toes." He could feel something building up. Waiting. "Another breath, now find the stream of chakra, following the veins and arteries of your body. Like a calm river, flowing unobstructed and quick."  
There was something, a kind of power. But it didn't feel like a stream. It felt more like a raging waterfall.  
"Do you feel it?" Naru asked. She didn't like the worried look on Isamu's face. Maybe she had explained it wrong?

"There's something but it's not like a river, more like a waterfall." Isamu said quietly, focusing on the feeling. "Like some kind of angry power, trying to escape."  
Naru's eyebrows knit together worriedly. She had once asked Sasuke what it felt like when he activated his sharingan. He'd answered that it felt like a raging waterfall fighting to get through a barrior.  
Maybe the fins and gills were Isamu's gekkie genkai?  
"Isamu, can you feel if it's stronger in any particular place in your body?" She asked him seriously, stretching out her own chakra to feel his.

"It's like it's focusing on my gills, fin, and my arms and legs." He answered, digging deeper. "It's so strong, but it seems gentle too. What does that mean?" His eyes opened and he lost the feeling.  
"It means your fin is part of a gekkie genkai that seems to be just going into overdrive." She told him. "Something triggered it into activating and that's why you got those new gills."

After discovering his chakra, Naru began teaching him the numerous handsigns. As they rode, Isamu practiced the signs until they stopped again for dinner.  
"Now show me how good you are at drawing the signs in rapid succession." Naru instructed him, building up the fire for the night. He was a little sluggish but faster than most kids his age at this. He was pretty young, only six.  
"Alright, now I'll teach you some more basic ninja techniques." She announced, taking out several kunai and shuriken. "We'll start with equipment."

Isamu was amazed at how great a teacher lady Uzumaki was! She explained everything before showing it to him so he could see how it fit together.  
One of the reasons she'd always had trouble in school was because it was all talking and she couldn't see how it worked. So maybe by showing Isamu, he'd get it faster too. She adopted her best 'Pappy voice' whenever she reviewed something, to keep it interesting.

By time the food had finished cooking, Isamu knew how to properly weild both kunai and shuriken without scarring himself. His aim was another matter, but that would work itself out eventually.  
They travelled like this for several days. Whenever Naru reigned the horse in for a break, Isamu began aiming for various objects like rocks or branches to improve his aim. He managed to hit five out of ten stones after the fifth day of this.  
He couldn't wait to be strong enough to help lady Uzumaki, instead of being just a burden and worry.

On the sixth day, they reached a giant bridge that led to a series of islands in the distance. A sign stood to the right of the road.  
It read; Let this bridge be proof that hope can never be forever lost, the Great Naru Uzumaki bridge!

Isamu felt his jaw drop to the ground as he read the entire sign. Lady Uzumaki had an entire bridge named after her! Is this really what she wanted to show him? "Isamu, this village is the sight of my very first C-rank mission." Naru began, looking fondly at the sign. "During this mission, I became stronger, lost new friends, and gained many more. It's where I first saw death. Where I first began to really bond with my team."

Naru told him about the fight on the bridge. She didn't leave out a single detail, even the one about her literally walking into an enemy's trap.  
"Why did you do that?" Isamu asked. Had she really done that or was she being modest?  
"I was just a genin." She explained to him. "I'll be the first to admit I've done things I find rather..." She paused, trying to think of the right word. "Stupid, as my friends would say."

After she finished the story with the small funeral, Naru led them across the bridge. Just before stepping off of it however, she turned to Isamu, who wore the bandages used to hide his additions.  
"Isamu, take off those bandages." She ordered him. "We're among friends here. I promise no one will hurt you because of the way you look if your with me."  
Trusting her with his life, he removed the bandages and allowed her to tie back his hair. Then they left the bridge and approached the village.

People recognized Naru, despite the time that had past and her new looks. People called out to her from doorways, throwing thanks and blessings every way.  
Last time she'd been there, orphans had littered the streets and the homeless sat slumped against buildings. Now the buildings were all freshly painted and there were many new foods in the markets.  
Half way through the village, Naru found who she was looking for.

"Inari, you've grown." She said affectionatly to a boy a little older than Isamu wearing a fisher man's hat. Inari's face lit up when he saw her and he ran over to them.  
"Naru!" He cried, jumping into her arms for a hug. "I can't believe your here!"  
"Better believe it then." Naru said, kneeling down a little to ruffle his hair. "Cause I'll be here for a little while on business."

Inari seemed to notice Isamu for the first time. He glanced briefly at the visibly gills but only raised an eyebrow before turning back to Naru.  
"So what kind of business are you here for?" He asked curiously.  
"I'm here to see about a toad and a slug." She answered cryptically, placing a hand on Isamu's shoulder.  
"Who's he then?" Inari asked, pointing at her finned companion.  
"This is Isamu, a boy I met while in Suna who I'm training." She answered politely. "Isamu, this is Inari, the boy I told you about earlier."

After the introductions, Inari led them to his house. In the yard was an unconcious Jiraya, blood pooling from his nose and a nasty looking black eye.  
Chuckling to herself at the familiar sight, Naru sauntered stealthily up to him. "Your such a pervert Ero-sennin." She said, kicking the body of her one time sensei.  
No sooner had the old nickname left her lips then Jiraya was up and Tsunade had crashed through the door. "Yo, what's up?" Naru greeted them, grinning foxily.

ENDTIME!AWTHATKINDOFSUCKSCAUSEIT'!HOWSUCKISHISTHAT?  
LC; And...Scene!  
Naruto; Geez, your bored aren't you?  
LC; Yes, yes I am.  
Sasuke; You hardly made any progress with this chapter.  
LC; That was the point. Too much too soon makes it confusing.  
Naruto; I think it was okay.  
Sasuke; Your easily pleased. 


	6. Chapter 6

LC; OKAY! Now for more Uzukage! Everyone's favorite show!  
Naruto; But this is a fanfic.  
Sasuke; There aren't even any pictures.  
LC;...You should not cross me.  
*Scene turns dark*  
*Scene opens again to reveal both Naruto and Sasuke taped to opposite computers wearing headphones.*  
LC; Now...I will torture you using the most horrifying, soul sucking, video ever.  
*Pushes button starting Barney movie*  
Both; NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
Disclaimer; They brought it on themselves but that doesn't mean I own them. Though I did enjoy their pain.

Chapter 6; Toads, Slugs, and Break Outs.

Tsunade and Jiraya could hardly believe it when Naru appeared on the front step of the house they were staying in. Of course, they could hardly believe it was Naru at all because of her new look.  
Only the pig tails and whisker marks remained unchanged.

"Don't tell me you guys have been mooching off Tazuna all this time." Naru groaned good naturedly. One could never tell with the sannin.  
Without giving a single warning, both sannin in question ran to her and proceded to squish her out of existence between them.  
"ACK!" She gasped. "Can't breathe! Need air! Isamu! Help!" She cried desperatly. It was bad enough being hugged by one sannin at a time, both at once could crush bones.

Isamu didn't know what to do. On one hand it looked like lady Uzumaki was being crushed to death. On the other it was extremely hilarious and he could barely keep a semi-straight face seeing her being squished like that.  
"Isamu I'm serious!" Naru choked. "Do something before I need to wear a full body cast!"  
Finally making a decision, he walked forward until he was looking up at the two old people and trying to figure out how to get them off his mistress.

"Lady Uzumaki, I'm not to sure there's anything I can do to make them let go." He said hesitantly. He didn't like dissappointing people because it normally ended in pain. He knew Lady Uzumaki wouldn't hurt him, but he wasn't sure about anyone else here.

Thankfully for Naru, both sannin let go once Isamu made his presence known. At first they stared blankly at his gills before turning back to Naru with eyebrows raised.  
"This is Isamu." She introduced them, rubbing her bruised ribs. "Isamu, these are Jiraya and Tsunade, the sannin."  
"Naru Uzumaki if you knew where we were why didn't you come visit and tell us you were alright!" Tsunade demanded angrily.  
"Because I've been busy training myself and building a village?" Naru tried, shrugging playfully.  
Both sannin looked again from Naru to Isamu and back again.  
"Most unpredictable ninja alright." They muttered ruefully.

Inside, Naru caught up with all of her old wave friends. "Our economy has inhanced enough that we no longer need trade with Konoha to sustain ourselves. Now we're primarily trading with Suna." Tazuna reported to her joyfully, sipping from his sake.  
"That's good news." Naru said kindly. "Glad to see your all back on your feet!"  
"Where have you been anyway gaki?" Jiraya asked curiously. He'd used his entire spy network but had never gotten anything more solid than a rumor.  
"Mostly I've been travelling but my home base is in the Dead Lands." She told him. "I'd be happy to show you Uzu no Sato later. I actually came here because I'm trying to remain in the know about what Danzo's been up to lately. He made contact with me a while ago actually."

Naru told them about how Danzo and two ROOT had confronted her outside her village gates. "What I want to know is how did the hokage leave his village without anyone noticing? I seem to recall hokage's weren't suppossed to leave the village unless going on some important meeting with other kage."  
Jiraya sighed before answering. "Danzo hasn't exactly been playing by the book." He said slowly. "He's made a lot of changes to the rules. Konohagakure isn't what it used to be. Everyone is suffering."  
"How's the old gang." Naru asked gravely, her fists clenching painfully in her lap.

"Anko was captured for nothing other than being Orochimaru's former student." He began. "Iruka was arrested for teaching about the will of fire. Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai have gone into hiding in the forest of death. Many of your old genin friends are in the rebellion under Shikamaru's leadership and doing okay." He paused, worrying how Naru would take the worst news. "Naru, Danzo is holding Konohamaru to train him to become the next generation of ROOT."

The result wasn't anything like he expected it to be. Maybe Naru had changed since her banishment. Maybe she wasn't the same lovable bundle of sunshine. Being tossed away like an unwanted toy could do that to a person after all.  
He shouldn't be too surprised. That didn't mean he couldn't try to help though.  
"Lady Uzumaki, you told me stories about how you could rival ANBU with your stealth." Isamu pointed out shyly. "Can't you sneak in and save those people?"  
"I knew there was a reason I kept you around!" Naru hugged the boy tightly. "Your a clever kid ya know that?"

So it was settled. Naru would sneak in just as the Ichiraku couple left the village. They were sick and tired of living in a village that had harmed them more than help, so they were packing up the noodle cart and headed to Wave.  
Naru made a mental note to ask if they wanted to come to Uzu no Sato later. But first, she had precious people to save.

Ibiki Morino respected two things in his life. One, was loyalty. Both Anko and Iruka had that in spades. What kind of dung did Danzo think he had for brains anyway? No way those two would ever betray the village! The second thing he respected, was a person. A young girl named Naru Uzumaki.  
His reason for respecting her was simple enough. He'd been her proctor during the chunin exams. He'd watched, amazed, as she banished the fear of the other genin with a few sentences. It took something to do that. To completely banish someone's fears. Naru Uzumaki had that alright, she had it coming out of her ears!

He looked into the cell where Iruka was trying to urge Anko to eat something. They had some old bread and a little water, but not much else in the way of nourishment.  
The next day, Danzo would be inspecting his cells. Danzo expected these two to be dead. Ibiki could never kill fellow nin. He had to find a place to hide them or a way to get them out of the village.

Sighing to himself about how troublesome this was being, he turned to start climbing the stairs up to the T&I HQ. What he saw standing in the door frame at the top of the stairs was enough for even him, a hardened army veteran, to gape in surprise. Or really, who was standing there.  
The light almost made her skin glow, her hair looked to be aflame, and her soft saphire eyes glowed in the dark.  
It was none other than Naru Uzumaki.

Seeing Ibiki had finally noticed her, Naru walked down the stairs two at a time. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say the village ANBU have actually 'relaxed' since I left." She joked around. "I barely had to try to get past them. You need better security Ibiki."  
"Naru Uzumaki what are you doing here?" Ibiki demanded quietly. If anyone found out she was here, he'd have to kill her because of that stupid law Danzo passed. Ha! That girl did more for this village in a year than most nin were able to do in a life time! Trade with Wava, good relations with Crescent and Snow, and a strong alliance with Suna! All gone when she was banished!

"Oh, the usual, wreaking havoc wherever I go to protect my precious people." She said cooly, standing at the foot of the stairs. "And you seem to have two of them in that cell there."  
A light bulb suddenly appeared above Ibiki's head as he got an idea of how to save Anko and Iruka.  
"Naru, you can get them out of the village can't you?" He asked her urgently. "Because if so, I need you to get Anko to Tsunade, she's the only one who can help her."  
"Well it's a good thing I have Tsunade on stand by for when I get out of here." Naru muttered. "Ibiki, I have someone else I need to find before I come back for these two. When I get back, it'll be with Konohamaru."

He watched Naru climb the stairs before looking over at his sleeping comrades in the cell. For the first time in a long time, he felt there was a sparkle of hope yet.  
Because Naru had been left in the rain, but she still offered shelter to the ones she loved. Because she was willing to help Konoha even after what it had done to her. That was just how she was made. To save those she cared about and destroy what stood in her way.

Naru slowly made her way through the village. She walked calmly through the sewers. Technically, she was walking on the roof of the sewers, but the same principle applied.  
If she remembered correctly, she was directly under the hokage tower. Now all she had to do was figure out where she'd hidden that secret entrance into the tower. It was something only the sandaime had known about. Something he himself had shown her so she could travel about without being attacked by angry villagers.

She leaned against an odd stone, activating the trap door to swing open. "Figures I could only find it on accident." She muttered angrily, climbing the steps.  
Inside, the place was crawling with ROOT. This was where she had to be careful. ROOT were a lot better than ANBU. They never let their guard down, so she would have to keep her guard up.

Several times she had a close call. She finally managed to find out where exactly Konohamaru was when she heard a chunin talking about hearing someone's screams of pain from inside.  
She crawled through the vents until she could look down into the room. It looked like some kind of torture chamber with a bed. On the bed, nursing several wounds, was Konohamaru.

"I won't let him break me." Konohamaru murmured to himself. "I won't lose myself. I'm Konohamaru of Konohagakure, grandson of the Sandaime! I won't lose to some stupid old man!"  
Satisfied they were alone, Naru dropped from the vents to land by the foot of the bed.  
"Konohamaru, it's me." She said, rubbing the burning forhead of her friend. His eyes opened but they were unfocused. He was really sick.  
"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here before you know it." She whispered encouragingly. "Danzo won't be able to hurt you anymore."

Carrying Konohamaru on her shoulders, Naru climbed the wall and opened the secret passageway on the wall. Inside, she crawled until she found the slide.  
The slide would carry them down before landing them in a dumpster down below. Not Naru's first choice for a landing space, but the best that she could do on short notice. Besides, crawling through the vents is one thing, dragging a hallucinating Konohamaru behind her is another.

After being sure no one was coming to investigate their loud landing, Naru cautiously poked her head over the edge of the dumpster.  
Not a single person in the alley. You gotta love people's habits of ignoring strange things. Looking down to where Konohamaru was sleeping at her feet, she decided to get him to Ibiki as a first objective.

Luckily no one liked going down the sewers or they would have been caught in the first five minutes. Konohamaru continued murmuring to himself in whatever his dream was about.  
Loading him onto her back carefully, she performed a quick double henge to make it look like she was an older woman carrying her grandson home. Guarding herself carefully, she made her way through the village. No one thought to question the grey haired old woman with her young grandson on their way home.

Naru carried Konohamaru down the T&I HQ stairs to where Ibiki was waiting for them. "I didn't think you could do it." He muttered. "But I guess that's why your the most unpredictable ninja."  
"So Ibiki, you staying in Konoha or making a break for it?" Naru asked curiously. Personally she had no idea how she was getting away with so many unconcious passengers.  
"I'm still loyal to the village." He watched one blonde eyebrow rise at the comment. "I meant loyal to this village's true ideals. The will of fire can't be extinguished, no matter what Danzo wishes."  
Naru nodded respectfully before unlocking the door to the cell.

Iruka looked up when he heard the key in the door. This was it, he was going to be executed. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer that Naru would never see how far her home had fallen.  
Anko managed to pull herself closer to Iruka, who gladly pulled her into his arms. He wasn't going to beg for mercy. Neither was Anko. They were shinobi. They were strong.

"Iruka-sensei, Anko, can you stand?" Umino could not resist the urge to open his eyes. He could hardly recognize his beloved student. She wore clothes that a real shinobi would, not that awful orange jumpsuit, an improvement. Her blonde hair was held up in a bun to keep it out of the way. Two senbon held the bun in place.  
She'd gotten taller.  
"N-Naru?" He could hardly believe this was his adopted daughter. Only the whisker marks were the same. "What are you doing here!" He demanded angrily. "If your caught then every ninja in the village will have to attack you!"

"Iruka-sensei, you were the only one able to find me when I was just an academy student." Naru reminded him amusedly. "Don't you think it was strange a chunin could find me when ANBU couldn't?"  
Anko slowly opened her eyes. After being under arrest for three months she'd begun to lose hope of getting out. The only thing that kept her breathing was Iruka's gentle encouragements.  
"So are you going to slowly rot away until Danzo comes in the morning or are you going to let me get you out of the village?" Naru asked concernedly.

Anko's wounds looked infected and hadn't healed right. She needed help fast. It is a good thing Wave wasn't very far away.  
"Naru, where would we go?" Iruka asked. He'd be willing to follow her anywhere, so long as Anko got help.  
"Well, first we'd go to some friends of mine waiting nearby." She said mysteriously. "I won't say where now, mainly because the head of T&I is right behind me. But after we get Anko, you, and Konohamaru fixed up we're going to my place. Uzu no Sato."

"Wait, Ibiki Morino is right behind you and your busting us out?" Anko asked quietly. Her throat was hoarse and it hurt to move but she needed to understand Naru's insanity.  
"Aw come on, Ibiki's not that bad." Naru laughed. "He's a big softie who happens to not hate my guts! Besides, he hasn't turned me in yet or attacked me, or stopped me from opening the door, or from breaking into the hokage tower, or-" She paused, thinking. "Actually, he hasn't done anything."

Ibiki shook his head as he watched Naru make clones to carry Anko and Konohamaru. She and Iruka, who was greatly weakened, would run there.  
"Bye Ibiki!" Naru said happily, walking out the door and into the now fallen night. Ibiki shook his head one more time before he made some tea. So Uzu no Sato did exist did it? Why did it not surprise him that Naru Uzumaki was the one to find it? The place one could only get to if they were extremely stubborn and had lots of chakra?  
The place was made for Naru.

By the end of the hour, Naru had succesfully led them out of the village without raising the alarm. She felt kind of bad about leaving Ibiki on the spot like that, but he could take care of himself.  
Besides, Danzo would be wary of him. Ibiki knew almost as much as the hokage about the inner workings of the village. It would be a bad idea to either banish or eliminate him.  
He would be alright.

They stopped to camp for the night. It was nearing midnight when Konohamaru opened his eyes. "Where am I?" He muttered tiredly, not sensing anyone who wanted to kill him nearby.  
"Well, well, well, sleeping beauty rises." He gasped and bolted upright, looking around frantically. There, against the tree to his right, sat Naru Uzumaki, boss.  
"Boss I can't believe your here!" Naru grunted as she now held about 90 pounds of genin. "You wouldn't believe what's been going on here! First Danzo tossed out Tsunade, then she and the other sannin left to look for you, then Iruka was arrested!" He kept it up until he told her everything that had happened in the nearly two years since she left.

"Konohamaru, I know." She said gently, rubbing his back soothingly. "I know everything about what happened in Konoha." He just kept sobbing about the horrid training Danzo had put him through. "It's okay, he can't get you now. Your safe for the time being."  
"But, where are we?" He asked, wiping away his tears.  
"In a forest on the way to Wave." She answered him. "Anko and you both need Tsunade to look over you. Your both a little sick."

"But, the village!" Konohamaru protested. "We have to go back and over throw Danzo to save it!" Why didn't his boss see that? Why was she abandoning the village? She'd promised to be hokage!  
"Konohamaru, we can't go back." She argued just as fiercly. "It was a risk getting in there to save all of you. We might not be so lucky a second time!"  
"But you promised to be hokage!" He knew he sounded like a spoiled brat, but he had to remind her of that. She never broke her promises! To anyone!

"Konohamaru, it wasn't my real dream to be hokage." Naru said softly. It was morning now, and they were travelling to Wave through the trees. Two clones were carrying an unconcious Anko through the forest. "My real dream was to be accepted. I used to believe being the hokage meant the villagers had to accept me. But now I have people, new friends, that accept me and know about everything."  
He didn't know though, and that hurt him.

"So what!" He demanded, keeping up with her easy pace. "Your leaving behind your old friends, your precious people, for your new ones!"  
"Konohamaru if that were true I wouldn't be here helping you all get to Tsunade to be healed!" Naru snapped angrily. "I have new commitments, new promises to keep! I'll help my friends in Konoha as much as I'm able, but I can't fight your battles for you! If you want to go back and join the resistance, your doing it without me!"

They arrived back at Wave. Tsunade treated their wounds and illnesses. During that time, Konohamaru brooded over what Naru said. He couldn't believe she was just going to forget them like that! How could she!  
After a week, he finally decided what he was going to do. Before anyone woke up that night, he left the house. He was going to get stronger then go over throw Danzo to protect his village!  
He didn't need Naru! He didn't need her to hold his hand! He could do it himself!

Unbeknowst to him, Naru had watched him pack up and leave in silence. It hurt her to see Konohamaru suffering like this, but he had to make his own choices. He couldn't rely on someone else to make them for him.  
Two tears fell from her cheeks as she watched him run away in the opposite direction of Konoha. He was just a genin, but he was now a missing nin.  
She hung her head before going back to bed.

Iruka had been amazed in the changes Naru had undergone. It wasn't just on the skin either. She had matured greatly. Sometimes she spoke more like an old army veteran then a fourteen year old child.  
It hurt him to see her happiness and innocence so marred, but he knew it would've happened sooner or later. Konohamaru worried him more. While the way Naru had brushed him off had been harsh, he knew it was necessary, just as she did. Konohamaru had to learn not to rely on someone else's power.  
He had to get his own.

When everyone joined Naru in the kitchen for breakfast, she asked them what they planned to do now. Even the Ichiraku couple were present.  
"We heard your starting your own village." Tseuchi prompted. "Got room for a ramen shack?" Naru chuckled before telling him there was plenty of room so long as she got to be the first customer.  
"It's been way too long since I had Ichiraku ramen!" She proclaimed, almost drooling at the prospect. "Your both welcome!"  
"We got nothing better to do squirt, so why not let us tag along?" Jiraya asked rhetorically. Tsunade nodded before taking a sip of her sake.

Iruka and Anko agreed to come as well. They left later that day, leaving behind tear filled good byes with Tazuna's family.  
For a solid week they travelled for as long and as fast as they could. Naru's month was almost over and they had a long way to go.  
They made it with a day to spare.

!  
LC; Yep, end of chappie six!  
Naruto; Geez, you made Konohamaru run away!  
Sasuke; Isn't that the opposite of your original plan?  
LC;...Well...kinda, yeah.  
All; *Facefault* 


	7. Chapter 7

LC; Hi again!  
Naruto; We hope you'll continue reading!  
LC; Also, to all my reviewers, please sign your reviews!  
Sasuke; That means actually logging in or something.  
LC; I don't like not being able to reply.  
Naruto; And she can't do that if she can't find the URL!  
Sasuke; So just log in or something.  
Disclaimer; If I didn't own them in chapter 1, why would I own them now?

Chapter 7; Meeting Up, Settling Down, and Getting Started.

They stopped to camp at the foot of the biggest mountain. Tommorrow her friends would return from their missions and she would release the genjutsu to let them through.  
But today she and the others relaxed and began speaking of plans in their new home.

"I guess I'll teach at the academy when it's opened." Iruka sighed, what to do until then, he wondered. "Till then I have no idea what to do."  
"Who says you have to wait for it to formally open?" Naru asked him. "Isamu here began his learning under me but I barely remember my academy days. He might need help with reading and writing, but he's a sponge. He'll soak up anything you dish out for him."  
Isamu's chest puffed a little hearing lady Uzumaki praise him so highly. She wasn't stingy with praise, but he had lived a long time with only curses for company. It felt good to be liked instead of hated.

Iruka hadn't known what to make of the web-fingered boy when they had first met. But thankfully, teaching the pariah of the village had given him practice in looking underneath the underneath. So he hadn't judged.  
Now he looked the boy over more closely and was a little confused by what he saw. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the kid was a male version of Naru, without the blonde hair or blue eyes of course.  
They weren't the same color, but his eyes shone the same way Naru's had when he first met her. Like a kicked puppy begging to be pet.

"Sure, we'll start when we get to Uzu no Sato." He decided. He missed teaching kids. It was always nice to see a kid learn to do new things.  
"We have to wait until tommorrow for the others to show up." Naru sighed sadly. "I should have taught them the genjutsu needed to get through the mountain. I'll do that later tommorrow, Haradai should get it easily, he has good chakra control." While she made plans on showing her friends how to get home by themselves, she unstoppered a bottle and began toying with the water.

Which is how everyone in her group, (Other than Isamu) learned she could control water as easily as breathing. "NANI!"  
Naru lost her concentration and the water that had been curling around her fingers landed with a splash on the ground.  
"Aw great!" She groaned. "That was my last water and now it's mud." Huh, would it work if it was mud? Deciding to try it out, she tried to enforce her will on it again.  
A ball of mud came flying up, slowly. Before a second had past though, the dirt had fallen off, leaving only the water.  
"Cool." She muttered, passing the ball back in forth between her hands.

After explaining her power to her startled friends, the day passed fairly quickly. The next morning, they waited for her companions' arrivals.  
At noon, Haradai arrived with five kids tagging along. The oldest was twelve and carried a long bow. He had short cropped black hair and piercing grey eyes. The next were three triplets. Judai, Jono, and Johan. They all had red hair and green eyes, a mischevous grin permantly set on their faces.  
The last was a little girl sitting on the back of the horse. She had long white hair and was playing with a cloth doll. Her name was Hana.

"Haradai!" Naru cried, running forward to meet her friend. She couldn't explain it, but seeing him after so long, made it harder to breathe. Like she was holding her breath.  
"Lady Uzumaki!" He greeted her happily, jumping from his stallion. He was hardly prepared for the tackling hug he got right after.  
"Your too slow!" She told him, flasely angry. "We got here yesterday!"

Jiraya and Tsunade exchanged a single look after witnising the hug. Without a single sound, they agreed. Haradai and Naru were going to get married, one way or another.  
Maybe not today, maybe not tommorrow. But one day, they would get married!

It was only half an hour later when Diedara returned, carrying a large sum of money in a sealing scroll. A month was plenty time to make pletny of cash after all. If your a ninja.  
"Deidara!" Naru called, waving him over when she sensed his presence.  
Deidara took a look at the large group before raising a quizical brow to Naru.  
"Most of these are old friends." She began explaining. "The five kids Haradai found in Iwa."

With everyone gathered and safe, Naru released the genjutsu, revealing the cave. "Step lightly!" She told them, running inside, eager to be home.  
On the other side was the ocean, and underneath that, Naru knew was Uzu no Sato.  
"Okay, I want everyone to stick close." She ordered, suddenly very serious. "I can only hold it for so long."  
Without another word of explanation, she concentrated on moving the water away from the stairs. It had been a while since she had used her power, so it was harder. The ocean barely recognized her gentle proddings.

But the awed gasps from her companions were more than worth it. She liked having something to show off. Something no one could condemn her for. Something people thanked her for.  
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" She asked them mockingly. "This isn't easy you know!"  
Without any hesitation, Haradai, Isamu, and Deidara led the horses and packs down the stairs, followed closely by everyone else.  
When the last of them had started down, Naru joined them.

Unable to completely hold back the ocean after so long, Naru settled for surrounding them in a sort of portable orb of air.  
It wouldn't last long, the oxygen would get used up, but it lasted plenty long enough to get to Uzu no Sato.  
Akane was waiting for them in front of the gates. Little Ichiro squeeled in happiness upon seeing all the people.  
Akane wilted a little seeing so many people at once, but seeing Naru leading them there gave her courage. Naru wouldn't let anyone hurt her here.

The protective gates opened and the weary group entered their new home. Naru turned extravagantly to her new citizens and announced. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the legendary Uzu no Sato!"  
They could hardly believe it, even when they touched the amazing designs on the walls and smelled the heavenly aromas of the city's flowers.  
It was almost too good to be true, yet there it was. In all it's exquisite beauty, the city of Uzu no Sato, home to the outcast.

"Gotta say gaki, you never cease to amaze." Jiraya mumbled, nearly giving himself whiplash turning every which way to take in the view.  
"Of course, what did you expect?" Naru asked him mockingly. "To be honest though, I don't know what I'm going to do to top this. Maybe I'll create an unbeatable ultimate jutsu!" He half hoped she was joking, but knowing the gaki, it would most likely happen just as she said.

Naru helped everyone settle down before seeing to the newest orphan additions. The eldest, Kisuke, seemed to have grown up living off what he could fire down using his bow. He'd been trained enough to know how to use chakra but was far below genin levels in every other aspect.  
The triplets, Judai, Jono, and Johan had been orphaned when their father died protecting them from some hunter nins. Apparently their father had been a missing nin left with them after a one night stand with some woman.  
The little girl Haradai caught trying to steal from their food stores on the way back to the mountain whilst traveling through Tea country.

Now she lay on her bed in the tallest tower, at the tip top of the amazing structure. She felt like one of those princesses that she'd read about.  
But she didn't want to be like any of those weakling princesses, waiting for someone to save her. She could fight her own battles. She didn't want anyone to have to save her, she wanted to do the saving.

For the next few days, Naru trained her ability to control water. Yesterday had taught her something, she had to remain at the top of her control, otherwise it could be fatal.  
If she had been anyone else, even Pappy-sensei, they would all have died during the trek down the stairs. She had to get stronger, learn to control even more. So that no one would suffer because of her.

"Lady Uzumaki?" It was the elder boy, Kisuke. "Is your ability a bloodline trait?" He had been watching her for some time by then and had grown outragously curious about this power she held.  
"No it's not." She confided in him. "Would you like to learn?"  
Soon Naru had him set up learning chakra control techniques. It was hard for him because he rarely used chakra, but he was making progress at least. He could make it four steps up the wall before falling.

Finished with this aspect of her training, Naru decided to work on another part of it. So, she trained on the Rolling Waves taijutsu style for the remainder of the day.  
By the time she had stopped her onslaught, the training stump looked like nothing more than a twig lying in a crater.  
"Heh, I'm another step closer." She muttered happily, panting with the exertion.

Haradai, who had been watching her for the better part of six hours shook his head exasperatly as she collapsed onto the ground.  
He had to get stronger as well, in order to be of some use to his mistress. What good was he if he could not help her in her quest? But tonight he wouldn't train. It was late, and it was getting cold. The entire month he was seperated from her, he couldn't seem to get his mind away from those impossibly blue eyes or that loving smile.  
But right now he had to get her into bed. What a troublesome mistress he had.

Naru woke up in bed, staring up at the blue canopy that hung above her head. She felt so weird looking up at something like that first thing in the morning.  
Without waiting around to think on it more, she remembered what her old sensei had told her when he began teaching her how to bend the water. He said it was all a matter of will, and if one had enough of it, in theory they could bend any element. Even maybe mix elements to make sub elements!

She had an affinity for wind, so that might be the easiest to train in first. Then she'd move on to fire, then earth. She already had mastery of water, so it didn't matter.  
At the training grounds, she began the excercises that helped her control water, but used them with wind instead.

Flashback

"Remember Naru, you can't force an element to do what it doesn't want to." Pappy instructed her patiently as she tried to summon water from the lake they were practicing at. "You must let the water flow freely, and convince it to follow your will's commands."

End of Flashback.

Which brought Naru to wondering if she could apply the same principles to other elements. For a few hours she tried to assert her chakra into the wind to make it do her bidding, but had little success.  
Panting from exertion and chakra loss, Naru decided now would be a good time for the instant ramen lunch she'd brought.  
Just as she was finishing her meal, she felt a presence reveal itself from up in the tree she was leaning against.

"So what's your next move gaki?" Naru nearly choked on her ramen as Jiraya jumped from the tree and landed in front of her, grinning from ear to ear.  
Naru growled before deciding to answer the guy that had taught her a lot. She owed it to him anyway.  
"To be honest, I was thinking about how to spread word to other people faster about Uzu no Sato." She confided to him. "You said that you have this huge spy network right? Well could you spread some rumors for me then?"

Jiraya would be lying if he said that he wasn't surprised by this request. He, like many people, thought Naru was too impulsive and needed to cool out. Whatever training method the old man, Pappy, had put her on had improved her in that aspect.  
He really wished the old geezer had been able to share his secret.

"What about everyone else? What's your plans for them?" He asked curiously, eager to see more of this legendary smart Naru.  
"Shizune could stay here in the village to fix up the hospital, we'll be needing it sooner rather than later." Naru went on, listing her plans. "I was hoping Baa-chan would find a way to guaruntee a steady supply of medical supplies and food. Deidara and Haradai I was thinking of sending off together to perform more missions for us. Anko I wanted to have patrol the surrounding area of the cave, these mountains are not as secluded as I'd like them to be. Iruka-sensei would stay with Akane and the little ones, exploring the place, getting everything fixed up and so on."

As he listened to the well thought out plan he couldn't help but feel pride well up in his chest. Naru was becoming the wise, strong leader a village needed and he had no doubt who would end up leading this village when it got really going.  
She had actually managed to assign the perfect jobs to the people best suited for them! That took a lot of thought, which meant her mind had not been idle while her body trained.

"A sound plan all in all, but what is your job?" He asked. He had noticed how she hadn't said anything about her going anywhere and he knew that she would never vote to stay in the village with nothing but training to do.

"Well, I was going to do some more travelling." She said vaugely. "I'm thinking about going to Kizu to look for orphans. I figured during the civil war going on there that there must be a lot of war orphans, maybe some with bloodlines. I want to save as many lives as possible."

That settled the matter for him. He knew Naru was much stronger now, and it was time he began training her more. When she got back from her recruiting mission he'd see about training her a little more.  
He believed she was more than mature enough to handle the truth about her parentage. If Danzo was going to hold it over her head, it would be better for her to learn it firsthand anyway. Less chance of her freezing up in battle if she were to suddenly discover the fact.

"Well, you had better find those hitaites and hand 'em out before leaving." Jiraya told her, shooing the girl away to start whatever endeavors she had in mind.

Elsewhere in the Land of Fire!

Konohamaru punched the tree as hard as he could over and over again. The bark was stained with his own blood and stained bandages were wrapped around his fists.  
He could already feel the improvement in his abilities but he knew it was nowhere near enough. He had been moving every day, from one part of the country to the other, avoiding villages.  
He really didn't want to be caught by Danzo and taken back to that horrible training regimen.

After leaving Wave and Naru, he had thrown himself into training. He used shadow clones, as his old sensei had told him of their benefits, though they tired him.  
Thanks to them he had already mastered the rasengan, the steps of which had been shown to him by Naru. He was getting stronger, and soon he would be able to save the people of his village!  
He made a promise to himself, and he would keep it!

In Konohagakure!

Sasuke was seriously considering leaving to find Naru. It couldn't be that hard to find this mountain range she talked about. The council was arguing back and forth amongst themselves about which girls would be 'perfect' to rebuild the Uchiha clan.  
They even had the gall to ignore the fact he was standing, glaring, right at them, KI leaking off him like a waterfall.  
Either that, or they were extremely stupid.

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed, if only he hadn't come back. Naru had to be having an easier time than him. He wondered if they had started rebuilding that village he'd never been to yet.  
Which reminded him, he was suppossed to be glaring in the council's direction. If only he could be one hundred percent certain he was actually glaring at them and not at the wall or something. He hated being blind.

Current time, Uzu no Sato tower council room!

"And that's the basic run down of all I'm hoping to accomplish." Naru finished, heaving a sigh of relief that she hadn't stuttered during the entire speech.  
She bet Teme was having a wonderful time back in Konoha with all their friends. He was probably talking about what a dobe she was during the academy or something equally embarrassing.  
If only she could get out of these forever boring council meetings. Somehow, she knew once they became a real village it would only get a hundred times worse.  
She was not looking forward to that particular aspect.

"I gotta say brat that's actually pretty well thought out." Somehow, it irked her that no one had any faith in her thinking capabilities.  
She hadn't been that bad had she?

"Thanks Baa-chan, anyway I brought a bunch of Uzu hitaites too to help us get known." She opened an old box she had brought from the basement to show many wave themed hitaites.  
On the thin pieces of metal was a design akin to a wave washing over some sand, similar to the beach hiding the stairs to their haven.

"Mistress, I have some grievences about you travelling alone." Haradai spoke up. More, he did not want to be seperated from her for so long right after being reunited.

"I know but there's a lot to get done and until more people join us this is all I could think of to best accentuate everyone's talents." Naru said, effectively passifying him. Which brought them all wondering if she knew she had that affect on people or not.  
The ability to convince them to anything. They shuddered. It was a good thing she was on their side.

Plans were made for them all to regather in a month's time. The only changes to the original plan was that Haradai would be accompanying Naru instead of going with Dei to do more missions.  
This suited Haradai just fine as it meant he could travel with his mistress, to be certain of her safety.

"Lady Uzumaki, how do you intend to transport the number of children you hope to bring back?" Haradai asked curiously. While they did have the horses, he knew the kids wouldn't be able to all ride at the same time, greatly slowing their progress.

"Well, I brought some money with us to buy a wagon for them to ride in." Naru said bashfully, showing him the pouch of money.  
She felt a little irked that none of them had any faith in her thinking skills. Had she truly been that bad when she had lived in Konoha?  
She supposed maybe she had, she remembered running into obvious traps a lot as a genin.

"I don't know if I should take it as a good or bad sign that everyone seems to think I really am an idiot." She muttered tiredly, changing opinions required a lot of energy after all.  
Haradai's laugh, she was certain, would haunt her dreams that night.

This is a line!  
LC; Alright, another chapter done and ready for uploading!  
Naruto; Not bad, you got some more Konohamaru action in there.  
Sasuke; My part was the best.  
LC; Conceited ego-tistical maniac.  
Sasuke; *Goes to emo corner*  
LC; Good, that's where your kind belong. 


	8. Chapter 8

LC; Okay, now for another thrilling episode of Uzukage!

Naruto; Geez, you're always on the computer. Do you even have a life?

LC; Sure I do! It just happens to be an internet based one!

Sasuke; Your pathetic.

Sakura; Do you even have a boyfriend?

LC; I used to but I broke up with him.

Naruto; Why?

LC; He wouldn't leave me alone about these weird drugs he was taking. Some over the counter stuff that in high doses give hallucinations. I didn't want involved and he didn't want to stop so I dropped him like a hot rock.

Sasuke; That's actually a good reason to dump someone.

Sakura; Yeah though I feel kinda sorry for the guy. What was he on?

LC; Aspirin.

Naruto; Aspirin? Why?

LC; He said hanging around me and trying to figure me out gave him too many headaches...Or something along those lines, I was reading some sasunaru yaoi at the time so it's hard to remember.

All;... ... ... ... ... ... ...Suddenly I envy that guy...

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto. I do however own a Naruto-piggy bank! Wanna trade? *Kishimoto* NO! *ME* Aw!

Chapter 8; The Road of Life, A Black Cat, and An Old Lady?

_Konoha_

The day was passing by pleasantly enough. He had no missions that day; Danzo wasn't sending his goons to follow him around anymore, and he was reading the latest in the Icha Icha series.

Ever since Danzo had taken over, he'd been under constant watch to ensure his loyalty. Of course, he had only found it moderately annoying and insulting. He wasn't an ex-ANBU captain for nothing after all.

Kakashi sighed as he wandered down the streets of Konoha, searching for his last remaining team members. When Sasuke had come back, the initial plan was to quietly sneak him away to where the rebels were hiding.

That had not gone according to plan since Danzo had that very day been in his apartment talking to him. Sasuke had been _coerced_ into rejoining the shinobi program, though his sentiments belonged elsewhere.

"Kakashi-sensei, how are you today?" Kakashi looked up from the pages of his book to see Sakura smiling up at him happily.

Though they all missed their ray of sunshine, they were comforted by the thought she was happy and safe wherever she was at the moment.

"I'm fine Sakura. Have you seen Sasuke? I wanted to tell you that I'm going on an extended mission tomorrow so I won't be around for a while." Sakura assured him she would convey the message and left to go find everyone's favorite blind raven.

Sakura had grown some over the past year and a half. She had kept her hair cut short, and now wore a red shirt and black shorts. She had given up on the red dress about six months ago, it just got in the way.

She worked part time at the hospital, training to be a top notch medic-nin. She wanted to follow in Tsunade-sama's footsteps.

Although she was having a little trouble with the super strength jutsu Tsunade had left her with before the elderly woman had left the village.

She eventually came across Sasuke stocking up on shinobi supplies in Tenten's family's shop. She walked inside, but paused when a rather shiny weapon caught her eye.

They were about as long as senbon but with curved blades on the ends. They reminded her of the scalpels that some medic-nin used in the field. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to indulge a little in sake of bettering herself, she bought them before going to talk to the raven.

"Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei is leaving on a long term mission in the morning." She told him, not really expecting him to respond.

"Lucky him." Sasuke mumbled jealousy. He'd do just about anything to get out of the village for a little while. Even a few days would be enough for him. Just a little vacation.

"Yeah I know what you mean." Sakura sighed sadly. "It's been so long since we were allowed outside the village gates."

Leaving the village was a sort of reward to shinobi for good behavior. If you didn't disagree with Danzo, you went out. If you did, in any way shape or form, you didn' was as simple as that.

_On The Road to Kizu_

Naru sneezed again and thought someone must have been talking about her. She hoped what they said was kind. She hoped it wasn't Danzo sending out any of his goons against her friends.

"Naru-sama, are you alright?" Haradai asked, concerned and wondering if the cooler weather had caused her to get a cold.

"Someone's talking about me." She mumbled through her congested nose. "I'm fine Haradai. Please stop calling me Sama."

It was a cycle the two had started almost without realizing it. Haradai would insist on calling her with that honorific, and she would ask him not to, only for him to use it again not ten minutes later.

It was one of the only things that kept them from being bored to tears on their trip. It did not help.

Some hours later the Sun was setting and she and Haradai were making camp for the night. The two were working in a companionable silence.

A few days of travel separated them from any of the bigger villages before getting to Kizu itself. Naru wasn't certain they should go that far but she would travel as far as possible if it meant saving people.

She knew the bloodline purges had been going on since before she was born. Haku had revealed that fact to her long ago.

However she also knew that people had this habit of surviving that made them either nuisances or heroes.

She'd save every life she could.

"Lady Uzumaki, I think someone is coming." Haradai whispered suddenly, his senses stretched out, feeling for the presence. "A caravan, of people I think. Most of them trained ninja too."

"A caravan of shinobi?" Naru questioned. Something about this felt strange somehow. Now that she concentrated she could feel their chakras.

She could sense their agitation, almost like they were running away.

"Haradai, change of plans, let's see who these people are." She had a pretty good idea, but she needed to be sure. She didn't just sense the caravan, she sensed those following it.

And they were getting closer.

Quickly packing back up and saddling their steeds they burst through the tree line and onto the road in front of the caravan. The horses pulling it reared and nearly knocked the driver off his seat in his effort to keep them contained.

An old man jumped from the wagon and ran in front of the horses facing them.

"Please I implore you, spare my clansmen! Our bloodline is minor and weak; we would wish none of Kizu's people harm!" He pleaded for the lives of his people, his clan.

This man was obviously clan head. Naru could sense his power, she knew he was strong.

"I'm not from Kizu; I merely wanted to see who was travelling down this road." Naru spoke calmly, slowly lowering herself from the saddle of her white mare.

"We're not here to take lives but to save them." She announced to the old man.

After an interrogation to ensure they were telling the truth, the clan allowed them to travel alongside them. They shortly stopped for the night in a large clearing.

Then they finally gathered around the camp fire to talk to their guests.

"I'm Naru Uzumaki and this is my comrade Haradai." She introduced them formally.

"We're travelling around finding people willing to join our village and thought to come here. I figured because of the bloodline purges people would be fleeing to find better lives and I was hoping to show them Uzu no Sato."

"Uzu no Sato?" An old woman repeated, too quiet to be heard. She knew of that legendary city. If this child had found it, that meant she was of the long lost clan of no name.

Could it be true? Did haven still exist somewhere in this world?

"I am Takishi Hirogane, and this is the Hirogane clan. If you're curious about our bloodline, we have the ability to change our forms to match our environment. For instance," He kept on gruffly. "If we were hiding underwater we could grow a tail, fins, and gills. Or if falling off a cliff we could grow wings."

"Wow, I don't know what you meant by 'our bloodline is minor'." Naru gasped. "It sounds pretty useful to me!"

"It is minor because there are no military uses for it." The old man explained.

"Girl, is it true you have found the legendary Uzu no Sato?" He asked suddenly, changing the subject. All those old enough to remember knew of the city, lost forever under the waves.

If this girl truly was of the clan of no name, then haven might still exist for their clan!

"Yeah that's right." She confirmed. "Actually I'm travelling to find people who want to live there under the ocean!" She admitted it did sound a little silly worded like that.

"Please, I beg of you allow my clansmen to settle in this heavenly city!" The clan elder pleaded. "We will work for our living quarters and protect your land with our lives if only you would take us there!"

Naru wasn't sure how to respond to this. She didn't like people offering their very lives to her, to protect her. She better enjoyed being able to protect rather than be protected.

However, she knew a little of diplomacy and politics. She could work with this.

"I'll happily escort you to my village on the condition you swear loyalty to me as leader of Uzu no Sato." She stated, holding her head high and back straight.

To all those present, they would later claim she had seemed like a true leader. An angel sent from heaven to lead them to salvation some would say. Others would say a protector. Still others would claim her to be a normal girl with more wit and goodwill than was common.

It didn't matter anymore. She was starting.

A celebration was called for and a feast thrown together, fit for a daimyo. There was dancing and music, a bon fire lit from a fallen tree.  
For one night these people could forget the harsh treatment by their fellow man. The purges were forgotten under the influence of drinks, food, and family.

But they were not alone.

Naru and Haradai had been aware of the people tailing this clan for some time now. By now, they had caught up to the caravan and seemed to be watching the festivities.

"Haradai, come dance with me!" Naru smiled, pulling her swordsman friend to the bon fire. Haradai knew she merely wanted to be in a position where she could best react in the face of an attack, but he enjoyed their closeness anyway.

The feel of her in his arms, was amazing.

It happened so suddenly, the clan of mainly elderly and children could do little against them. There were three, they wore emotionless masks.  
These were the Kizu versions of Konoha's ANBU.

Naru threw up a water wall to protect the children from the sudden hail storm of kunai and shuriken. Without the preparation or movements, relying totally on her will, it was much harder than normal and took more chakra.

"I won't let you hurt them!" She declared to the masked nin, sending her own barrage of water weapons. In her desperation to stop them though, something happened.

The water weapons, turned into those of ice.

She didn't have time to ponder over the possibility of combining elements though and jumped into the battle, forming her favorite jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin jutsu!" She cried, summoning a hundred clones easily.

These Kizu ANBU didn't stand a chance against the water controlling army and were quickly killed.  
The point of the matter though, was that Naru struck all the killing blows.  
Even when it was a clone that struck that blow, Naru felt like she was the one to have stolen that life.

Did they have family? Did this one who's face she never even saw have a brother or father? Did this only kunoichi have a child back at home?

Haradai placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she lost control. This would be the first time since she was a child that she would shed tears in sadness.  
She cried for three shinobi who she would never know and who would never grow to be more. She cried for her enemy.

_With Tsunade_

Tsunade had been burdened with getting a steady line of medicine and food to the village, so she had gone to the number one shipping industry in order to do so.

It helped that up until a few weeks ago she had been living with the CEO of the company, Tazuna himself.

"My main concern is unloading the goods as you don't yet have a pier." He confided, looking over the map he'd been given.

"Naru has the ability to summon thousands of clones, she'll have a decent pier rigged up in no time!" Tsunade said with conviction.

"We just have to put off the first shipment till after she returns from her mission."

"Yes you do have a point there." He remembered how the girl had summoned clones to help build the bridge when more of his men had quit long ago.

"Now don't worry about the down payment or shipping fees." He assured the large busted woman.

"We owe a debt of super proportions to that kid, so all you have to pay for are the actual supplies!" He rolled up the map and set out to meet with some of his workers.

Tsunade sighed in relief. Now that this route was taken care of she had to go to another country to get even more. She recalled a time when she had sent Naru, Sakura, and Rock Lee on a mission that led them to Crescent Moon kingdom.

She remembered getting a letter claiming if ever they, especially Naru, needed help, they'd provide.

It helped that they were closer to Uzu no Sato than Nami had been, so the route would in turn be closer. After this she also had to go to Suna to get supply lines through on land. She needed some sake.

_With Jiraya!_

It was a crime, he was certain of it! This was some kind of cruel and unusual punishment! Jiraya wallowed in his self pity as he resisted the urge to treat the two lovely strippers playing on the poles at the back of the bar.

"Uzu no Sato eh? I'll mention it to a few customers that may be interested." The bartender remarked casually.

"Thanks Kyouya, I appreciate it." Jiraya mumbled, forcing his eyes on the glass of booze in front of him rather than the bras of the girl behind him.

"Sure ya don't want to stay and have a little fun with the girls?" The bartender, Kyouya, asked. He had known Jiraya long enough to know the man only forgone women when it was important.

"No I have to keep moving, unfortunately." He sniffled, his voice breaking at the last. Oh what cruel fate that such beautiful young lady, who would be perfect for a scene in his latest book, would not get the pleasure of meeting him!

Jiraya left the bar before he could be tempted to stay a little longer. He needed the money and he doubted the gaki would give him more to use on research, no matter how important it was.

_Back with Naru and Haradai!_

The trip to that region of Mizu no Kuni had taken a week on horseback, but dragging a caravan filled with elderly and young, it took twice as long to get back to the border.

Naru knew making the dead line back to Uzu was slim but she figured if they weren't attacked by bandits they'd have a good shot at it. She just hoped nothing bad would happen.

"Naru-sama, are you alright?" No, she wasn't alright. She hadn't slept properly since leaving Uzu and hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"I'm fine Haradai, just worried about the time we're making." She knew she couldn't just say she was fine, she had to give a reason for her lapse of calm or Haradai would pursue the matter.

"Do you think we can make it before the month is up?" If it had taken them a week to get to that point and two to get back to the border of Hi no Kuni, Naru wasn't optimistic about their chances.

"I don't think so. I guess I'll send one of my toads to Uzu in order to tell everyone we're running behind schedule." She muttered.

Haradai did not press the matter further and instead focused on making sure no one fell behind at the pace they were travelling. Most of the younger children and elderly were riding in the wagons but some took to sneaking off and could get lost if someone didn't keep an eye on them.

As they continued trudging on, slowly making their way to unnamed country, they did not notice the shadow watching from the bushes lining the road.

It appeared to be about the size of a normal house cat, but certain features were a little off in that description. Its ears were a little too upright, it's snout a little too long, it's legs a little longer than normal, and its tail significantly bushier than a normal cat's. Another strange contrast was the black fur that covered every inch of its body.

END OF CHAPTER SO GO HOME YA LITTLE TWERPS!

LC; Okay, another chapter done and I'm getting more into the thick of things!

Naruto; What do you mean? You didn't do anything! There wasn't even any fighting!

Sasuke; Dobe, there can't be fighting in every chapter.

LC; Yeah, besides, this one was more looking into the lives of the characters. Building them up, you know?

Naruto; I guess, still, where did you get the underwater city from?

LC; *Cough* *Mumble* *Cough*

Sasuke; What was that? I'm afraid we didn't hear you.

LC; I watched Atlantis.

Both; *Sweatdrop*


	9. Chapter 9

LC; Ooookay! On to my story!

Naruto; Quick question, why do you write so much?

LC; Because I like writing and reading!

Sasuke; How do you update so quickly though? It only takes on average thirty days for you!

LC; Well, I guess It's because writing a chapter isn't all that hard.

Naruto; Yeah right, if it wasn't hard everyone would update every day!

LC; I've just never had trouble writing something with over 3000 words!

Sasuke; You are one of the seven wonders of the world alright.

Naruto; Truly a subject for further research.

Sasuke; You'd need a grant the size of Rushmore to get me to study that! *Points to LC who is eating a lolipop*

LC; To my story now!

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! I do own the Hirogane clan and their bloodline though. Trade?

Chapter 9; Black cloaks, red clouds, and fancy rings!

Rain fell in a steady drizzle. The outlook of the view from the window was gloomy, as though Death's hand shadowed the land.  
Looking out the window was a blue haired woman, a paper flower tucked over one ear. She was beautiful, called by her people an angel of their god.

Behind her approached an orange haired man with eyes like a disturbed lake. He stood by her side for a moment, neither saying a word.

"Soon peace will reign." Pein, Ame's God stated.

"Something has upset the balance." Konan said to her friend.

"We will wait for a few years yet before taking the tailed beasts." Pein said suddenly, after a long silence.

"Soon, when we have the power, this world will know pain." Konan bowed her head in acceptance as her once friend turned and left her alone again.

"Nagato, what happened to our dream?" A single silver tear fell down her cheek.

"It's always raining." She stated, before turning to follow her leader out the door.

Kakuzu could honestly say he couldn't have been paired with a more annoying man than Hidan, a jashinist.  
He watched from the side lines as the foolish man used his ceremonial jutsu to sacrifice a young woman who hadn't brought him his drink fast enough.

"Hurry up Hidan, your wasting time." The woman was as good as dead anyway.

"Fuck you cock sucker!" The blackened and bloody man cursed in his direction.

"Jashin-sama needs a sacrifice daily, otherwise he will be angry with me!" Kakuzu wasn't a religious man by any stretch of the word, but he could at least acknowledge their presence.  
He knew that the things that happened in nature were the work of the Gods, and he knew they existed.

He just chose to ignore them. That however, was impossible with such a zealot on his team. He could not say Jashin was a figment of his imagination, as that so called God was the one who granted his teammate immortality.

That didn't mean it was any less annoying when Hidan toyed with his sacrifices for so long. Time was money!

"Damn that hurts like a bitch!" The foul mothed heathen cussed, clutching his bleeding neck as he had finished the job of the impudent woman.

"Then why do you do it?" Kakuzu countered, using a few of his threads to sew the idiotic worshipper back together again.

They kept up their annoying banter until they reached the outskirts of the town they were in. Hidan felt as though he were being watched and turned quickly to see a girl ducking back into the alley.  
Normally he would ignore something like this but something felt different today.

Besides, taking his time to do things annoyed the hell out of Kakuzu and he enjoyed doing that since he couldn't just sacrifice him to Jashin.

Blatantly ignoring the shouts of his partner he walked to the alley and stepped just inside. A girl about the age of seven was hiding behind a bin, reading a very familiar book.

Hidan was momentarily stunned when he realized it was a Jashin bible and checked his pockets to confirm he still had his.  
Luckily for the girl he did.

"You worship Jashin-sama too don't you?" Hidan looked up at the girl who was shyly peeking out at him from behind the bin again.  
She was holding the book close to her heart.

"It's always good to see fellow worshippers of Jashin-sama!" He greeted her, in a much better mood now that he knew she shared his faith.

"I saw you give Jashin-sama a sacrifice earlier, you did it beautifully and I'm sure he was pleased." She said kindly.

"What is your weapon and how many have you sacrificed?" Hidan asked her.

"I use a tanto and I have sacrificed five men and two women." She answered, revealing her weapon previously hidden beneath her short kimono.

"What's your name brat?" Hidan asked.

"Rukia." She answered, giving him a slight bow.

"I am Hidan, level ten servant under lord Jashin and your fucking superior! I have sacrificed four hundred and fifty seven lives to Jashin-sama and have been blessed with immortality that I might serve him forever." He said, pronouncing his official title among fellow Jashinists.

Rukia gasped as she met for the first time her hero. He was even braver and more fiersome than she had anticipated.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Hidan-sempai." She said with an even deeper bow than before.

"Whatever kid, don't give your pleasantries to me, give them to Jashin for allowing us to meet." He instructed.

Just outside the alley, Kakuzu watched with a growing impatience stifled by the sudden feeling of intrusion.  
He felt like he was imposing on something sacred and felt as though the very gods knew it. Slowly, he backed away from the alley where the two jashinists spoke to wait by the gate.

"Rukia, if you stay in this town you won't get very many sacrifices, let alone get stronger." Hidan had never gone so long without cursing, he found it to be quite the acomplishment.

"I know this Hidan-sama, but without money, I lack the necessary supplies." She said sadly. She could only get sacrifices every now and again and if she didn't get ten by her next birthday Jashin-sama would be angry.

"Then you will travel and be trained by me till I deem you worthy of fighting for Jashin-sama, or dying for him." Hidan said dismissively, turning to leave the alley.  
She was stunned by his offer but followed closely, eager to learn from someone so close to Jashin himself as to gain immortality.

_Back with Naru and Haradai!_

The creature that had been watching them left after the last carriage had passed. It trotted to an over-turned log, his den, where he could report his findings.

Keisuke Urahara looked up from the pitiful meat before him to see his companion Ururu returning from surveying the road.

"Master, a carravan of the Hirogane clan led by a young woman and man has just passed." The creature's fur began to shed away and it began to grow in size.  
After reaching the size of a normal human child, it rose on it's hind legs and finished the transformation.

Keisuke had found this young girl scavenging in th trash one faithful day and had taken her in, training her in the strange power within her.  
For she had the power to transform into a dark, shadow like creature.

"Things will be getting interesting." Keisuke turned slightly to see a third figure previously hidden by the shadows as she now stepped forth.  
She was old, ancient some might say, and had seen the first of the hidden village's founding.

Her name was Yuzu Higurashi, the next to last of the future seeing clan. She and her descendant, Youruichi, were the last.  
Behind her stood the three year old boy, Youruichi himself.

Yuzu was ancient, her once black satin hair now a graceful grey. The wrinkles adorning her face were many but gentle, as though reluctant to marr what was once beautiful.  
In the child one could more prominently see the clan's features. His hair was black as coal, but his eyes a purer white than those of the Hyuga.

"I see that young woman doing many things. She will be important to this world's future." The old woman stated, her blind eyes as perceptive as ever when faced with the happenings of what was to be.

Naru felt a chill race up and down her spine but payed it no heed other than to mentally scan the area they were travelling through.  
Why did she have such a feeling of foreboding?

Haradai glanced over to his mistress and knew despite her calm demeanor she was on guard. He tried to stretch his senses, hoping to find what she was worried about, but couldn't locate anything.

"Naru-sama, will we be taking the direct path or changing direction at the interpass?" He asked, trying to discern her plan.

"I think it would be safer if we took a boat at a nearby port. It would be faster as well since we wouldn't have to cut through any of the smaller countries to get back home." She informed him.  
She had counted the money and it would be enough for all of them on a small barge. She was glad Uzu no Sato had once been so rich a city.

They reached the port city of Kazukuro and restocked on their supplies as well as purchased their board on a bardge heading to the Unnamed lands.  
Naru looked at the planned out route the ship was going to take and nodded as it was only a day's trip to the Uzu mountain range.

While paying for their tickets, Naru accidently brushed against a man with silver hair wearing a black cloak with red clouds.

"Excuse me, my fault." She apologized swiftly, upon seeing his angered face. She could see Haradai placing a hand on his blade out of the corner of her eye and knew he'd have her back if trouble broke out.

"Hidan-sempai, the ship will leave in the morning!" Came the cry of a young girl. Naru took this as an oppurtunity to get away while the man was distracted.

"Fucking brat, I was going to sacrifice this fucking stupid girl to Jashin for bumping into me!" He growled to Rukia, who bowed her head in shame and asked for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry Hidan-sempai." Naru went to the outskirts of the town, where everyone would be camping out to wait for their barge tomorrow.

"Naru-sama, there was something about that man." Haradai trailed off, not sure what he meant and not wanting to sound foolish.

"I know, I felt it too." She replied quietly.

That night the clan slept peacefully. Some of the younger men were standing guard and Naru was meant to be resting, but she lay awake.  
She couldn't explain it but she had trouble sleeping whe not in Uzu no Sato. Otherwise she would think of things needing to be done, problems yet to be solved, and the people under her care.

Finally giving up on slumber with a sigh, she rose from her pallet and left the tent wearing only her yukata.  
Once outside she stretched her arms to their fullest and took a deep breath of the late night air.

"Couldn't sleep?" Naru nearly jumped a mile and turned to look at Haradai who had been standing watch outside her tent.  
She hadn't known he was there, otherwise she would have dressed instead of walking out in only a yukata.

"Nope, I'm too excited!" She proclaimed.

"You should rest though." He protested. He knew she hadn't been sleeping lately and he was getting a little worried about her.

"But I'm not tired." She whined.

"Naru-sama, I respect you and I swore to serve you, but I'd prefer if I served you while fully rested." He said warningly, pointing to the tent like she was a small child.

"Your no fun." She pouted, going back into the tent and laying on the pallet.

The next morning the entire Hirogane clan and their escorts boarded an impressive vessal destined for the Unnamed lands.

"Uzumaki-sama, after we depart the ship how far is Uzu no Sato?" Takishi asked wearily as he felt the boat rocking on the waves.  
He had never been much of a sea-faring man.

"A day's journey to the Uzu mountains, from there only a few hours if we take the shortcut." She told him.

He thanked her and went to where his clansmen were resting to inform them how close they were to sanctuary.

Before the ship departed, three more people boarded. Kakuzu tuned everything the two jashinists talked about as he walked up the gang plank.  
One of his hearts was getting too old and he would have to replace it soon with someone who had a water affinity's heart.

He was wondering where he would find a shinobi with a water affinity in the Unnamed lands when he saw a young blonde woman near the railings.  
He would have passed right over her if not for the fact she appeared to be holding an orb of water between her hands.

He smirked as he found his next target. She was young and looked healthy, her's would be a good heart.  
He would take it the first time the oppurtunity presented itself. His eyes turned to the young kenjutsu user standing next to her. He read a word on his lips.

'Naru-sama, so this young lady has a vassel. He might be a problem.' He shrugged before figuring he would leave the man for Hidan and that Rukia brat.  
He had to keep the two heathen god worshippers happy after all.

Two children wouldn't be missed after all.

That night again Naru left her bed to take a walk. This time Haradai did not protest and merely followed her to the deck.

It was a beautiful night, the stars shone brightly, reflecting off the calm waters. Naru leaned over the prow of the ship and took a deep breath of the sea air.  
With her hair down and loose blowing all around her Haradai thought she looked more gorgeous than the entire night.

"Naru-sama, at this rate we'll arrive two days before the deadline." He said suddenly, stepping up next to her and carelessly placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.  
He had seen the minute seazing of her muscles and knew someone was watching them. He could sense three chakras, two appeared very strong.

"I can't wait to see everyone again." She said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 3.

"Don't you think it's a beautiful night?" He asked. 2.

"It's too bad that soon it will be spoiled." 1.

"Sorry to interrupt you two love birds." Naru waved her hand and an army of water senbon appeared around the intruders.  
Haradai's blade was in his hands and he was ready to fight for his mistress.

"I don't suppose we could settle this peacefully?" Naru said hopefully, momentarily lowering her arms and her weapons.

"Sorry, but I need to replace one of my hearts and your it." Kakuze said, his threads snaking from his body, sneaking towards the young nin.

"One of your hearts?" Naru repeated, suddenly feeling slightly sick.

"I have five, and whenever one is damaged or aged, I replace it with another." He explained, pointing at her.

"You have my new heart." Hidan and Rukia charged Haradai, ready to sacrifice him to their lord.

"In the name of Jashin-sama, die!" Rukia cried childishly, thrusting with her tanto.

Naru sent her water at the threads on the deck creeping toward her and used a wind jutsu to freeze the waters, trapping the thread.

"Haradai, make short work of them!" She ordered before moving to her own battle. Before the sun would rise, this deck would be washed in blood.

_Back in Uzu no Sato, The Beach._

Isamu looked up from where he had been fishing on a canoe over the water as he felt a sudden chill in the air.  
He looked out over the ocean and could somehow feel something bad about to happen.

"Isamu, is something wrong?" He looked over to Kisuke who had joined him on the surface. They had found a secret entrance to the city and had been using it since lady Uzumaki wasn't there to make the water dome.

Of course, with Isamu's gills and fins, he didn't need to use the secret entrance, he just did it for Kisuke's sake.  
The kid was only ten after all.

"I feel like something bad is about to happen at sea." He said cryptically, turning to look over the deceptively calm waters.  
It was late, soon the Sun would rise. They knew they were expected by Iruka-sensei and Anko-sensei to return to the city before the Sun rose, but they had to investigate.

"I'll go back to the city to get Anko-sensei and Iruka-sensei. You swim out to see what's up." Kisuke said, leaping from the boat and swimming for shore.

"Don't do anything stupid Isamu-baka!" He called over his shoulder.

"No promises." The quiet boy murmured back. He concentrated on giving his gills chakra to get them working before diving into the cold waters below him.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

_Back on the Ship, Haradai's Fight._

He could feel Shupaname warning him against being struck by their blades. At first he thought maybe they were covered in poison, but that wasn't right.  
Still though, it wasn't too hard to use his superior speed to out maneuver these two.

He would later feel bad about killing a child but he had to keep his mistress safe. These two were his enemy and he had to follow orders so he could protect his mistress.

"Damnit hold still!" The one named Hidan cursed, swinging his scythe at him only for Haradai to duck below it and deliver a crushing blow to his ribs.

"Fuck you, that hurts!" The man screeched, holding his side with one arm.

Haradai could only stare in shock as the man held what should have been an instant killing attack.  
There was no way that man could have survived that blow.

He stopped his track of thoughts immediatly as he deflected a blow from the girl before pushing her over the edge of the rails.  
He shivered at her screams as she fell to the waves below. Yep, he would most definitely be having nightmares tonight.

"Rukia!" Hidan cried, running to the edge and seeing the girl floating below him with blood flowing from a head wound.

"Damn you I'll send you to Jashin!" He swore. He usually liked taking his time but he couldn't leave Rukia to drown down there.  
As much as he would hate to admit it, the girl's bright attitude and loyalty to Jashin had grown on him. He wouldn't let her die yet.

"Your next! Crescent Moon Slash!" His opponent yelled, seeming to split into two. One to attack high the other to attack low.  
Unable to tell which was the original Hidan swung at both of them. Though he nearly lost his head, he got the blood needed for his ritual.

"How are you still alive?" He questioned in disgust and amazement as the man's head hung by a thread.

"Jashin-sama has blessed me and now he will curse you!" Hidan vowed, his form already changing to his ritual form and his foot drawing the symbol.

"Now die!" He dug a kunai out of his sleeve and pierced _himself _in the stomach, creating what should have been a fatal wound.

Haradai tried to figure out his logic when suddenly his very guts began screaming in agony.

"HARADAI!"

THIS IS THE END OF THE CHAPTER AND I AM THE LINE!

LC; Okay, very good. Very nice.

Naruto; What was with the random people and the shape shifting girl?

LC; They'll be important later on.

Sasuke; You killed Haradai? I thought he was going to be Naru's love interest?

LC; Well maybe I changed my mind.


	10. Chapter 10

LC; Alright, now we're going on to find out what happened to Haradai!

Naruto; Yeah, are you killing him off or what?

Sasuke; The suspense is killing me. *Fights off more rabid fangirls*

Naruto; To be more exact, Haradai's fanclub is.

LC; Back, back you mangy curs! *Swings machete at crowd* Back I say!

Naruto; We're capsizing!

Sasuke; Call the harbor patrol!

LC; A good captain goes down with her ship, a smart captain takes the last life boat!

Both; NANI!

LC; Bon voyage! *Drops down to sea below in life boat filled with supplies.

Sasuke; She took all the instant ramen.

Naruto; Nooooo! We're going to die!

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! Now go away! Unless you want to trade for Rukia!

Chapter 10: Murky waters, mermen, and healing waves?

Naru ran forward and caught Haradai as he fell, her emotions making the waters around her form a shield from the continued attacks of Kakuzu.

"Naru-sama." Haradai coughed.

"Haradai, you said you'd serve me! So I'm giving you a direct order! Don't die!" Naru cried desperatly, feeling tears prick at her eyes.  
She placed a hand over the wound, trying to stem the bleeding.

"'m s'rry." Haradai mumbled, feeling his eyelids grow heavier with each passing moment.

Naru made three clones with orders to do everything they could for Haradai while she took care of the two attackers.  
She mentally corrected herself upon seeing one of them jump over board and run to the girl who had fallen earlier on the water. She'd have to make this fast.

"Fuin jutsu, divine fist jutsu!" Naru screamed, making the hand signs and then thrusting her hands forward to knock away the threads moving towards them.

"Your opponent is me!" She cried, charging forward, water encircling her arms and freezing as she pushed it at the interloper.

Isamu swam as fast as he could, feeling his chakra running at full measure. They weren't far away, he just had to go faster.  
He could smell blood on the water, and it was Haradai's!

Kakuzu growled in frustration as time and again the girl froze his threads. She was fiesty, he'd give her that. As he kept on his attack he wondered where that bastard Hidan had gone.  
He chanced the second to look over the water and saw Hidan holding the girl, Rukia, in his arms. She looked unconcious, maybe dead.

"Pay attention!" Naru cried, running her kunai through his chest. Kakuzu gasped in shock as he felt another heart die.  
That made two hearts down, he only had three and this girl was a lot better than he gave her credit for.

"Nice try girlie, but I still got three hearts left." He growled, managing to impale her with three threads before realizing they had frozen to her body!  
He couldn't seperate himself, meaning he couldn't get any distance.

"Here's an old classic, Rasengan!" Naru yelled, thrusting the twisting sphere into his stomach, where another heart rested.

He cut the threads himself and took the time to look over his prey properly. Now that he thought about it, this girl looked kind of familiar.  
He couldn't place it though, and that bugged him to no end.

He decided to stop trying to be careful and just began attacking in earnest. Naru summoned hundreds of clones, keeping them around to take hits, switch with, and attack at random intervals.  
Just when he thought he had finally subdued her she turned out to be a clone and he got that little bit more tired.

"It's time to end this!" He swore, sending threads through all of the clones' stomachs, arms, and legs. Normally this would keep someone from moving.  
For Naru though, it only gave her insentive to finish this quickly. By now Hidan had returned to the ship, and things were looking grim.

"I'm going to sacrifice everyone on this fucking ship to Jashin-sama!" Hidan cursed, laying Rukia down on the side.

Below the deck, the entire clan had heard the racket and they all heard this statement the clearest.

"Sorry to say but you'll have to do that over my dead body!" Naru cried, throwing kunai and shuriken at him a hundred miles per hour.  
Many of them stuck in him, turning him into a grotesque pin cushion, but he just kept coming.

"My pleasure!" He screamed at the fucking annoying blonde girl.

Many of the able bodied men nodded and they all headed to the stairs. If this girl was going to defend their lives, they were going to defend her's.  
When they got to the top, the leader, a man named Raimaru gestured for them to be quiet as they snuck up on Kakuzu.

The 'immortal' man was so distracted by his destroyed hearts that he didn't notice the people creeping up behind him until one was ready to stab him in another heart.  
Without thinking his threads impaled the man, but the momentum of his blade kept it on it's course.

"Hidan, we need to retreat!" Kakuzu cried, he was on his last heart and he didn't think they could honestly take on all these people.  
He hadn't signed up for this. This was meant to be a quick and clean thing, but now he was just wasting everything and putting too much on the line!

"Damnit! I wanted to sacrifice this fucking bitch!" Hidan said, jumping back to land by his side. He wasn't dumb though, he could see they were losing.  
They just weren't effective in such large crowds, they'd have to retreat for a short time.

Hidan grabbed Rukia and with a nod they both made a run for the side, jumping over and making for the shore in the far off distance.

With the danger passed, Naru allowed herself to feel the pain of her wounds. She was lucky they had gone when they did, otherwise she'd be in trouble.

Isamu found the ship, and he also found the two S-rank nins. They were holding their hands in the ram seal and concentrating on it, just out of sight from the deck.  
Silent as the waves he swimmed in, he crept up in time to feel the chakra burst as they activated some exploding tags they had placed in the cargo holder of the ship.

Naru ran to Haradai and dispelled all her clones. He was still breathing, but he had lost a lot of blood and he wouldn't last much longer.  
Holding back her tears, she drew on the water. She didn't have a lot of chakra left, but she only needed a little. Closing her eyes, she poured her chakra into the water with but one wish.

_Heal!_

Before her eyes, the wound closed and his breathing grew easier. She was so exhausted she didn't notice the Higurashi men standing behind her, keeping a constant vigil in case they came back.

That is when they felt the explosion. The entire ship was rocking on the waves and taking on water, fast!

"The ship is sinking!" A member of the crew said, running up from below, where the leak had started. Soon all the passengers were on the deck, leaving hardly any room to stand.  
Naru knew things were looking bad. The life boats had been sabotaged, and it was too far from the shore to swim!

"How long before this barrel hits rock bottom?" She demanded from the captain.

"An hour at most!" He squeeled, panicing under the interogation from the young lady.

"Then we don't have much time!" She declared, before giving orders.

"I need a show of hands, who among the Hiorgane can grow gills and fins?" She turned to the passengers.

"Everyone but the youngest generation, the ones who are six and under." Raimaru informed her.

"Good, than those of you who can, transform and keep this barrel afloat! The rest of you civilians will help me patch up that hole in the brigg!" She was commanding them all with such a no-nonsense tone, none could find the strength to argue.  
Besides, this girl was their only hope.

Isamu reached the ship, and from there swam down below to find the hole. He came up for air in the holding area and began shifting large boxes to try and cover it.  
Naru came storming down the stairs with half the crew not long after, and though she clearly wanted to know what he was doing there, she held off on the questions. They had people to save.

Soon the hole was plugged as best they could, leaving only a few leaks but them up to near their neck in water.

"Alright now I want everyone working to get rid of this water!" She said, summoning a hundred clones to help.  
Everyone worked together to shift the water back where it belonged, barely keeping them all afloat.

"How long till we reach shore at this rate?" Naru asked the helmsmen as she took a short break to catch her breath.

"A few hours to the next port." He reported.

"I said shore, not port!" She snapped, not in the mood to deal with this. She was tired, didn't know if Haradai would be alright, curious about Isamu, and low on chakra.  
This was not a good combo, but it was no time to argue.

"Two hours at most." He reported after checking a map.

"We'll have to keep this barrel afloat till then." She said gravely, looking out to the east, where the Sun was just starting to rise.

_In the plains of Kusa._

Konohamaru had grown a little, gaining almost an inch. His muscles were more developed and now that he wore a short sleeved shirt, this was blaringly obvious.  
He was walking down a well worn path, on his way to another village to restock on supplies. It had been a while since he had been sprung from Konoha, and he was feeling homesick.

"Hey, who are you kid?" He looked up, drawing a kunai, as he saw a red haired man wearing strange armor standing opposite him on the road.

"My name's Konohamaru Sarutobi." He stated proudly, not putting away his kunai. That man was wearing a hitaite from Iwa.

"Ah, the grandson of the late Sandaime?" The man pondered.

"Where are my manners? My name is Roshi." Konohamaru eyed the strange man warily, before moving to the side to let him pass.  
He didn't need to get into any unnecessary fights.

"Why are you not in Konoha?" Roshi asked curiously. It wasn't often he saw a Konoha shinobi without their hitaite.

"I left." He answered, shrugging with indifference.

"I too left my home, yet I still wear their hitaite." Roshi said kindly, making light conversation with the young ward.

"I can't serve my village when a corrupt man leads it." Konohamaru sighed, thinking about Danzo.

"Ah yes, Danzo Shimura. He has been trying to start a war with Iwa for some time now." Roshi bowed his head in disgrace.

"So you do not serve your Rokudaime because he has corrupted the home you love into something you can't stand to be a part of." Roshi commented.

"Wrong!" Konohamaru gasped.

"I still love my village! I'll liberate it from that man!" He swore.

"You will be strong one day, young Konohamaru." Roshi acknowledged, only now going on his way. He paused as he reached the young boy's side.

"However you can not lose sight of the reason you battle. The love of your home, the will of fire I think it's called, it must not be doused." With this advice, the man vanished.  
As though he was never there at all.

"Am I seeing things now?" Konohamaru muttered, before going along on the path.

_Uzu no Sato, beach._

Iruka and Anko stood on the shore, it was faint, but they could sense a lot of chakra heading their way.

"What do you think it is?" Iruka asked aloud.

"I don't know. But I have a feeling it has to do with that brat." Anko sighed, thinking of the tireless blonde kid who had no problems with bringing home strays.

"Do you think there was trouble?" He asked her, silently asking the question of should they go check it out.

"I don't know. But it's too far for us to water walk." Anko's shoulders slumped. Naru could be in trouble and of course the gaki was three miles away!

"They should be here soon though." Anko contemplated.

_On the Ship._

Naru had fallen asleep and two hours passed before she was roused. When she did she checked their status.  
The rudders were destroyed, and all the Hiroganes were too tired to keep pushing them along. They would have to take a break and hope they could get to land soon.

Naru got an idea and went to find Isamu. She found him tending to Haradai and couldn't help but cringe when she saw his scar.

"Isamu, do you have enough chakra to swim to shore?" She asked tiredly. She was really regretting her recent late night walks.

"It's not that far, just another mile or so." Isamu said, nodding the affirmative.

"Get back to Uzu no Sato, bring rafts and things to help get people to shore. Wait until we're in sight before bringing out the boats." She ordered him.  
Isamu nodded, before getting up to leave.

Not ten minutes later he stood on the prow of the ship, tightening his hitaite. He was proud to work under Uzumaki-hime, the princess of Uzu no Sato.  
He would do his best to help any way he could. Right now the best way to do that was get boats to help these people get to land safely.

_The start of the mountain range._

Jiraiya met up with Deidara on his way back and the two had walked the rest of the way. Luckily, Jiraiya had been studying the scroll needed to release the genjutsu on the cave, so it was a simple matter to get into it and through the other side.

"Ah its a blast to be back!" Deidara declared, stretching his limbs as he looked over the beautiful sandy beach.

"I wonder if Naru's back yet?" Jiraiya muttered as they walked along the beach. He stopped arubtly when he saw two figures standing in the distance.

"Why'd you stop for?" Deidara asked the white haired pervert. He looked around and saw the odd couple standing in the glow of the sea.

"Iruka you lucky dog." He sighed.

"Let's go tease them!" Jiraiya giggled. Deidara shrugged and went along with it. Besides, when Anko tried to kill the old pervert, he could watch as her coat fluttered in the breeze.

"Hey there you two love birds!" Jiraiya cried as they came to a stop nearby.

"L-L-Love birds!" Iruka stuttered.

"Old pervert!" Anko shouted, kicking him into the air, and out of the mountain range.

People of the Unnamed lands would on this day swear they saw a shooting star in the middle of the day leaving behind it a trail of red.

"So what's going on, un?" Deidara asked.

"We don't know. We can sense a lot of people not far out into the ocean but they're still too far for us to go check out." Iruka informed them, Jiraiya having mysteriously reappared out of nowhere. (He knows the Hiraishin!)

"Iruka-sensei!" They looked up to see Isamu poking his head out of the water.

"Isamu, you shouldn't have gone off like that! What if you had ran out of chakra!" Iruka scolded him, going into mother hen mode after dragging him out of the water.

"It's Uzumaki-sama, she's on a boat with the people she's bringing here but they were attacked by two shinobi. The boat's sinking!" He panted, he was really low on chakra now and needed to rest.

"They need something to carry the people on!" He panted finally, laying down on the sand and closing his eyes.

"You've done enough Isamu, we'll take it from here." Iruka told him.

They drug out the rafts and canoes as quickly as they could before rowing in the direction of the sinking ship.

_On the Ship!_

Naru looked over the edge of the boat, noticing that now half the ship was submerged. They couldn't haul out the water fast enough without her clones but she was too tired to make any more.

"We won't make it to land in time, we've come to an almost stand still." The captain said tiredly to the young lady who had taken charge.

"We'll make it, so long as Isamu was able to find help." She said firmly. There was no room for arguement here.

"How long till we go under at this rate?" She asked.

"Two hours, tops." The man behind her sighed. It seemed hopeless now.

"Tell all avaliable men to start work on a large raft. We might need it." She ordered. He nodded before walking off to talk to some of his sailors.  
She put up a brave face, but even she was too tired to make light of this situation.

An hour later, the help arrived. Cheers rang through the crowd as Iruka, Anko, Deidara, and Jiraiya pulled up with rafts to begin taking them to land.  
Naru insisted that the children and elderly should go first, followed by injured. Next the more fit people could get on.

On the third trip, Haradai was loaded, still unconcious onto Iruka's barge. Naru bent her head as he passed below her to be taken to safety.  
When she got on the last raft with Jiraiya, she was so tired she almost lost the fight with wakefullness.

"You have chakra exhaustion kid." Jiraiya informed her.

"Funny, I've never had chakra exhaustion before." Naru murmured, fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Why don't you catch a few Zs now?" He tried to persuade her.

"After everyone's in the village and safe." She compromised. It felt nice to know there were people who cared about her.

Once everyone was on the shore, they filed one by one down the secret passage. It was a large tunnel that was rather large on the inside.  
Naru speculated it must have been used by the inhabitants unable to make the water dome to get to the surface. When they filed out of an old depo to the village proper, gasps rang out across the area.

"Wow." Akane muttered, holding her little boy close as so many people came to the village center.

"Alright, listen up!" Naru yelled from atop the water fountain in the middle of the center.

"First off, welcome to Uzu no Sato! My home! Now, I'd like for the Hirogane clan to please follow Jiraiya to where you will be staying until we get everything sorted out!" She said, gesturing to the old white haired man.  
Obediantly, the majority of the crowd wandered off behind him to the resident district.

"As for the rest of you we can put you in the hotel ran by Akane until we can get you to where you need to go." She said, gesturing to the pretty young lady holding her son.

"Please direct any concerns to my friend Deidara if there are any problems. I'm going to bed!" Many of the sailors chuckled as she walked off to the tower.  
She needed sleep, she hadn't been joking.

When Naru awoke the next day, she went out to see how everything was getting along. She found Kisuke in the resident's district helping people move things they didn't want to the streets where they could be taken by someone else.  
Naru nodded to the child as she passed.

"Uzumaki-sama!" She paused and turned around to see Takishi jogging over to her.

"I wanted to thank you on behalf of our clan. If not for you, we would have surely perished." He said gracously.

"It was nothing. How does everyone like their new home?" She asked him.

"It's better than we had hoped!" He proclaimed.

"That's good, but would you mind if I borrowed a couple of your men?" She asked.

"You see, a dear friend of mine named Tsunade should be returning either today or early tomorrow, and I want someone up on the surface to show her the way down." She explained to him.

"Ah yes, I'll get my two grandsons on that right away!" The old man told her.

"Thank you." She said, bowing slightly before moving on.

She went to the hospital, where Shizune was caring for Haradai and the men injured in the blast. Naru waited on the edge, feeling a little self concious.

"Naru-chan, are you here to see Haradai-kun?" She gasped and looked up to see Shizune smiling down at her.

"Is he alright?" She asked, feeling her throat tighten uncomfortably.

"Yes, he just needs to take it easy for a while. He lost a lot of blood but should be back on his feet in about a week." The lovely young nurse reported.

"What about the injured men?" Naru asked, feeling better knowing her friend would recover.

"Some minor burns, but they'll all make a full recovery. I'm just glad there was such a stock of burn balm down here!" Shizune had found there to be an abundance of the stuff in the cabinets.  
She wondered why fires would be a problem for a city found under the ocean.

"Baa-chan will be back soon, then we'll all be able to rest and relax." Naru sighed before leaving again.

END OF CHAPTER SO NOW GO AWAY TILL NEXT TIME LOL!

LC; Okay, now I am happy.

Naruto; So Haradai didn't die?

Sasuke; Nope, apparently not.

LC; Ooh, but what is this weird healing power Naru has now?

Naruto; You don't know?

LC; Why would I?

Sasuke; Your the one writing this slop!

LC; I am? Since when? 


	11. Chapter 11

LC; Time for more Uzukage!

Naruto; Yay, more female me.

Sasuke; Either it's a female you, or a male you in love with me. What's with that?

LC; I just enjoy torturing the blonde whisker boy.

Naruto; Maybe I should dye my hair and gat plastic surgery.

LC; Sorry, but they don't let anime characters do that.

Naruto; Why not?

LC; Because plastic surgeons are your fans too.

Naruto; O.o

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! Now go away and leave me to squander my life in peace!

Chapter 11; Visits, plans, and a raging war.

_In Konoha, Hokage Tower._

Danzo looked over the papers in front of him until he heard a knock at his door. He called for them to enter, making sure his guards were ready as ever.  
In came his assistant, Sakura Haruno, escorting a delegation from Suna.

The new Kazekage, Gaara, and his siblings stood in front of his desk, waiting for someone to speak.

"Welcome to Konoha, I trust your journey was relaxing?" Danzo greeted them. He didn't like Suna, they had a jinchuriki as a kage, but he did need their support for a while yet.

"It was." Gaara's voice was as monotone and gravelly as ever.

"Kazekage-dono, I asked you here to speak of our current aliance pact." He said, drawing up the papers.

"I wanted to be sure that with Suna's new leadership that you would honor this agreement." Gaara did not like this man. This man got his first friend banished. This man deserved to be crushed by his sand.

"Suna will hold to the aliance." An unspoken 'for now' hung in the air.

"We can speak more on the particulars later, I am sure you must be weary from your journey. Sakura will show you to your hotel rooms." He said, nodding to the pinkette.

"So that is the man who sent Naru away." Gaara muttered as soon as they reached their rooms and checked for surveilance.

"We haven't seen her in so long, but according to Sasuke she's building her own hidden village somewhere. I think it's called Uzu no Sato." Sakura sighed.  
She had infiltrated Danzo's office staff in order to get closer and try to get important info. That was just her role in the resistence, albeit a dangerous one.

_In Uzu mountains, the Beach._

Tsunade followed the two young boys who had come to meet her. She should have known that Naru would have brought an entire clan!  
The kid was going to make her hair go grey! It's a good thing this henge she was wearing hid the hairs.

She looked over the beach and saw a little outcrop of solid ground with just sand covering it, unlike the rest of the beach.  
The Senju nodded in acceptance, that would do for the pier. They'd have to fix up some kind of light house as well.

Walking down the passageway she pondered on how they could effectively guard it. Guards were a given but not really useful in tight spaces like this.  
Maybe Jiraiya could whip up some kind of seal to stop intruders or something. She'd think more on that later.

Once under the surface and below the glow of the crystal sun, Tsunade began searching for Naru. She checked the hospital and found out Haradai had been injured and that Naru had just left a minute ago.  
She went to the training grounds but didn't find anything.

It was only after talking to Deidara that she found Naru. It turned out Naru had discovered the ultimate unbeatable foe.  
Paperwork. To be specific, paperwork dealing with the Hirogane clan who was moving in. Delegating what area would be their compound, and things like that.

"Why did I want this job?" Naru muttered to herself, going over the second cousin's of Haimaru's third younger brother's wife's sister's family's new residence.

"That is what every kage asks themselves after a day in the life." Tsunade said, announcing her presence to the younger blonde.

"Baa-chan! Your back!" Naru cried, greeting the secretly old woman.

"Gaki!" Tsunade replied automatically.

"Listen Naru, I set up trade with both Wave and Crescent Moon but they will need somewhere to port. I think it would be best to have a lighthouse as well." She informed the youngest kage in existence. Second youngest anyway. She'd heard Gaara had beaten her by a year.

"I could make some clones but I have no idea how to make a lighthouse." Naru sighed.

"Looks like we'll have to improvise." Tsunade muttered.

The old woman shuddered as she felt a sudden morbid chill coming from Naru. Slowly, a shit eating grin appeared on the whisker'd features.

"Baa-chan, I just discovered how to defeat paperwork." And thus the world was forever changed in a moment.

Naru summoned hundreds of clones. She set two to working on the paperwork. One to actually do the work, and another to play as the 'original' until her return.  
Besides, she had something she wanted to do on her own.

With over 200 clones working on the bridge, and two to make her an alibi, Naru snuck away to the hospital.  
Shizune didn't want her being around because she thought Naru shouldn't linger there. So Naru wouldn't tell her she was visiting. She had been good with stealth back in the village, and it showed.

Naru sat beside her friend, thinking on what she had felt when he'd fallen. It had been similar to seeing Sasuke fall against Haku.  
Only this time she hadn't lost control of the Kyubi. Did that mean she cared more for Sasuke or for Haradai? Did that gut wrenching feeling have anything to do with loss?

She tried to imagine what it would be like to lose Sasuke, her best friend. She could honestly say, that in time she might have healed.  
If she had lost Haradai though-she couldn't go on. Just the thought of losing him hurt, she couldn't imagine it actually happening.

"And I won't let it." The declaration shocked her, but she didn't take it back. She'd get stronger, she'd train for days on end, if it meant she'd never have to feel that way again. If it meant she'd never feel her blood run cold like that again, she'd become the strongest in the world.

"I think I've put it off for too long." She said suddenly. Taking some extra paper from the nightstand by the hospital bed, and a pen from her pocket, she began to write.

_Dear Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and everyone and anyone else who they let read this._

_Hey how's it going? I'm writing this from Uzu no Sato, a city under the sea! It's not Konoha, but it's as close as I can get. You'd never believe all that has happened to me! I have a vassel, Haradai. Sasuke met him. Haradai got hurt in a fight recently, but he'll be fine. I also somehow managed to get an entire clan, the Hirogane, to pledge their allegience to me. Don't ask how I did it, cause I don't know._

_I hope your all getting stronger! After all, when next we meet, I want a spar! Sasuke, don't you dare chicken out and use being blind an excuse!  
Anyway, I've been working pretty hard. We have to build a lighthouse soon, but I've no clue how._

_Things are crazy here, but I imagine they must be hard back in Konoha for you guys too. How are your missions going? Anyone get promoted yet?  
I really miss everyone, but I've made lots of new friends too. Don't bother trying to reply, I probably won't get the letter. You'd need a summons to deliver it safely._

_I hope your all doing well and getting lots stronger! _

_ Your friend, currently awesome,_

_ Naru Uzumaki!_

Naru bit her thumb and created some familiar hand signs. When the fog cleared, there was Gamakichi, her old friend.

"Naru! It's been a while since you summoned me!" The orange toad grinned.

"Yeah I know, but I have a favor to ask. Can you deliver this to Kakashi Hatake without getting caught?" She asked, holding up the folded letter.

"Heh, count on me! This won't even be a sweat! I'll have it delivered in no time!" He stated proudly, taking the letter and vanishing to wherever toads vanished to.

After that was over, Naru got a strange vision of herself, surrounded by hundreds of hers, being smashed by a falling tree.  
She gasped in surprise before rubbing her temple. So she got the memories of her clones? Weird. How did she not notice before?

Taking this knowledge in consideration, she sighed and sank down into the chair. Haradai was still sleeping, but he looked like he was getting restless.  
She wondered if the pain meds were wearing off or if he was just waking up normally. She hoped it was the latter.

Haradai forced his eyes open and met a blonde blur sitting just to his side. He recognized Naru, but panicked as he remembered the fight.  
Did he fail his mistress? Was she injured?

"Haradai, shoosh! Calm down!" He heard the anxious whispered pleas. He calmed down and found his vision returning to him.  
The walls were white, the sheets too, even the chair Naru was sitting on was glaringly white. So...hospital then.

"You got hurt pretty bad but you'll be fine in about a week, Shizune said!" Naru relaying the nurses findings.

"Milady, are you alright?" He asked her anxiously.

"Some minor chakra exhaustion but nothing a good night's rest didn't cure!" She proclaimed.

"Just one night's sleep and I'm rearing to go!" Naru covered her mouth as she realized how loud that must have been.  
Sure enough, within the next thirty seconds Shizune ran in, caught Naru, and tossed her out so as not to disturb the patients.

Haradai chuckled as he watched his childish mistress be tossed out for one little raised voice. He had to admit, sometimes he forgot she was only two years younger than he was.  
She did act a little mature at times, but most of it she was acting younger than she really was. She didn't mean to, it was just the way she was.

And he wouldn't change a single hair on her head. Not for a thousan ryo or more. Not for all the money in the world.

Naru sighed as she walked down the streets. They were a little more full than usual, filled with small groups of twos and threes as they all tried to figure out the layout of the village.  
She remembered getting lost during her initial training with Pappy.

_Flashback no jutsu!_

Naru walked down another street. Pappy said you could figure out where you were by looking at the crystal but so far she couldn't find the trick.  
She kept going down different streets but was no closer to the secret fishing pond. A pond in the city that allowed for fishing without flooding the entire dome. the place where she would be recieving her daily water bending training.

_Flashback no jutsu! Kai!_

"Lady Uzumaki!" She stopped in her tracks and turned to see Akane running towards her, son in arms.

"Akane, how are you and Ichiro doing?" Naru greeted her friend happily.

"We're doing fine! I just wanted to talk to you about something." Akane assured her.

"Sure, let's go to Ichiraku's to talk!" Naru wanted ramen. There was ramen just around the corner. She would not be kept back from the ramen-y goodness.

"Alright." Akane giggled. Naru's obsession with ramen was kind of cute. She had to admit.

Teuchi and his daughter Ayame ran a very successful and now booming business. Now it wasn't just ramen, though it was still a main item.  
The shipwrecked sailors and many of the Hirogane came here to eat out.

"Well some of the villager's were wondering about starting a festival. One to celebrate the grand reopening of the village." She explained over her bowl of ramen.  
She had to admit, she had taken a liking to it.

"A festival huh? But we wouldn't be able to throw it until after the first shipment from either Wave or Crescent Moon." Naru pointed out.

"I know, but what about after? I think it would be a nice way to formally welcome everyone here." The older woman insisted.

"It sounds like fun!" Naru laughed.

"We can start making plans later! First we should see about getting volunteers to help out!" Naru said, drifting off as she thought about the paperwork that would ensue from this idea. She was screwed.

Later that day she went out to train, she was making a little progress with her wind. It was actually easier than water had been.  
She must have an affinity for it.

"Hey Gaki, thought I'd find you here!" She turned around to see Jiraiya standing at the edge of the clearing, holding twin popcicles like during their trip to find Tsunade.  
Naru happily accepted the cold treats as she listened to what he had to say.

"I spread word of the village, pretty soon people will start coming from all around." He told her.

"That's good! We have to reach the population requirment before becoming a real hidden village!" Naru said happily.

"You've really thought this out." The old pervert said, amazed despite his previous resolution not to underestimate this young pupil.

"Anyway, that's not what I came here to talk to you about. You remember the rasengan of course." He prompted.

"Yeah, what about it?" She asked suspiciously.

"What if I told you there was a way to improve it?" Oh, he had her attention now. All 100 percent of it.

"Alright, I have some theories, let's start testing them out!"

It was several hours later when all of her clones dispelled at once accidently and she fainted that they were forced to stop.  
When she awoke, Jiraiya explained about the information overload she had expierienced.

"Ah, so no more dispelling them all at once." On the bright side, over half of the pier was rigged and ready.  
Soon she would have the entire pier ready for a few carge ships to reside in the cove at a time. She'd think about setting up a guard to the surface in case shipments came in.

"Tsunade told me about how hard to guard the entrance would be once found. So I've thought of an idea." Jiraiya said suddenly.

"I'm going to place security seals all over the place, so that you can't enter it without permission from one of our shinobi." That was a pretty smart idea.

"We can figure out the particulars later, but for now there's training to do!" Naru exclaimed, trying to expell the sudden serious mood.  
She was never good in serious situations and preferred having fun to them.

Jiraiya just shook his head as he watched the young blonde again try to enhance the already A-ranked technique into something all her own.  
The more things change the more they stay the same, as the saying went.

_In Konoha, Nara residence._

Shikamaru sighed again as he mentally ran over the plan. They'd been running little side gags, something to shake the people, ever since Naru left.  
In fact just last week they had used food coloring to change the entire water in the plumbing to come out orange. Many people had thought Naru had secretly returned and one could see the ROOT flashing above the roof tops all day afterwards.

He was in a fix though. For a while now the villager's had been calmer about Naru. They'd even overheard an old couple stating how they missed the pranks the child used to pull.  
But that wouldn't help their situation any.

It was completely troublesome, but unavoidable. Danzo had finally succeded in goading war with Iwagakure, they would leave in under a month.  
He had never been in war, and he never wanted to.

All he wanted was to grow to be an average shinobi and marry and average girl, not to pretty, but no too ugly either. Then have two kids, a girl, and then a boy.  
He would retire to a life of shougi and go after his daughter married and his son became a succesful shinobi. Then he'd die peacefully in his sleep.

That was his plan, his goal, and it was totally untroublesome. Save for the getting married part anyway, but that was unavoidable.

Shikamaru sighed again before reaching for his bag and double checking to make sure he was ready to go.  
Tonight they would pull something big, a breakout.

They'd gotten word that Moegi and Udon had been kidnapped. They were being used as bait to lure back Konohamaru, who escaped with Naru's help.  
He wished Naru had been able to speak with them during this operation of her's, but that was probably too troublesome for her.

Tonight, he, Ino, and Chouji would break them out of their cells. He had run through every possible scenario and at the worst, he would be seen.  
If worse came to worse he could hold down the ROOT ANBU until Ino and Chouji got away with the kids.

After that, he would use the strangeling jutsu on all of them and get away. Not only would it be a huge blow to Danzo's corpse, but they'd free to innocent kids as well.  
It was all so troublesome, but it couldn't be helped. He had to do everything he could, because he was needed, no matter how troublesome.

Besides, if worse came to worse he could join Temari in Suna, like she and her brothers' had offered.

_In the Cells._

Moegi coughed again and tried to still the spasms her body went through as a result. She was sick, her wounds infected from the torture sessions.  
Udon wasn't much better, if anything he was worse. He was so still and pale on the pallet beside her.

"Don't worry Udon, I'm sure Konohamaru won't abandon us." She whispered encouragingly, praying he could hear her.

_On the road to Konoha._

Konohamaru sped along the road, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. He had heard the announcement in a small village where he had been restocking.  
He wouldn't abandon his friends!

With a fresh burst of speed, he knew he'd get there by tomorrow. But that might be too late. Tomorrow was the date of their execution.

END OF CHAPTER NOW LEAVE THE SACRED PLACE!

LC; Okay now to go and do something else!

Naruto; Been a while since you updated.

LC; Yea well I'm getting into this new anime, Case Closed.

Sasuke; That's a mystery anime right?

LC; Yeah and it's really good!


	12. Chapter 12

LC; Ugh, let's just skip this part and go straight to the story.

Naruto; Not that I'm not happy your minimizing our torture, but what's wrong?

Sasuke; Are you sick or something?

LC; Hangovers suck but if I don't update this soon I'll miss my deadline.

Naruto; Your really serious about your fanfiction.

Sasuke; I can't think of anyone else who updates as often as you do.

LC; Maybe, maybe not. All that matters is I love writing and if I say i'll finish by a certain time.

LC; Then I will update at that certain time.

Naruto; Geez your insane.

Sasuke; What kind of work can you do on a hangover?

LC;...Crap, shit, dung, that kind of stuff. That's probably all this chapter's gonna be.

Naruto; Your just going to crap all on Naru?

LC; Yes.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto. Now leave my presence and leave me to kill myself in peace.

Chapter 12; Blades, Hammers, and Clubs.

_In Route to Konoha, 3 hours before execution._

Konohamaru bit into yet another soldier pill before continueing on this run. He had to get there in time, he just had to.  
He could feel the sinew of his muscles straining, could hear his haggared breathing echoing in the air, could taste the sweat that dripped into his mouth, and could see the blurred edges of the trees flew past.

His mind was awash with all sorts of scenarios, not many of them pretty. In some he could only save one friend, others he had failed and both were dead, still others where he got them both away.

None of this would have happened if Naru-nee had stayed and helped them! With her help, they'd have taken back his grandfather's village!  
He scowled to himself and put on another burst of speed. She had abandoned them! Left them all for dead! Betrayed them as surely as that Sasuke had!

What was worse is that she did it all of her own free will! She'd purposely turned her back on Konohagakure, their home!  
How could she do something like this? Why? Weren't they good enough for her anymore?

Tears slipped from his squinted eyes but no sound escaped. A testament to his rather short ROOT training. Amazingly he still held those teachings, despite his rather wild emotions.  
He wouldn't let his emotions get in the way of the mission.

But after...Well he'd see.

Long after he'd exhausted his body he ran on, for another two hours, until he fell to the ground below in a mess of panting limbs and salty tears.

At this rate, he'd never be able to save them.

"Udon...Moegi." The first sounds he'd made in almost two weeks actually. Not much use in talking when no one's around to hear it.

"I'm sorry."

_In Konoha. Execution Stage._

Damnit, what went wrong? Oh yeah, he'd trusted _them!_ All this time, whenever something went wrong, it was because of them.  
They'd been his friends, he had trusted them, and they had sold him down the river.

"It's not to late Shika!" The lazy nin raised his head and willed every ounce of anger, confusion, frustration, and every other negative emotion he felt at the moment into his eyes.

"Danzo-sama will need someone like you with an amazing mind for strategies!" Now _she _was joining, was she? How could they do this? How!

"Unlike you, I still bear the Will of Fire." He spat. How could they? He would have put his life in their hands, would have given up his life, for them! He'd do anything, and they used that.

"Shikamaru don't be stupid! You have a brain so use it! Danzo's too strong, none of us can beat him! Our best bet is to join him and unite the world under the banner of Konoha." How dare that blonde haired troublesome banshee disgrace their teachings?

"Shika come on, your my best friend." Ino he could deal with, given five minutes alone with her and some very sharp and pointy objects. but his best friend, Chouji?

"Not from where I'm standing." Shikamaru growled. Within the hour, his head would join that of two innocent children for all of Konoha to see.  
Damnit all if he was giving them the satisfaction of seeing him tremble in fear. He'd take a page from Naru's book, and keep smiling.

"Just help me out here. There's something that's been bugging me about this and I can't think of the answer." He grinned, eyeing his best-former-friend.

"Why?" That's all he wanted to know.

"Because Danzo's stronger than we are. That's why." Chouji answered. Shikamaru could see the tell tale twitches of his friend's fingers, he was restraining himself from eating.  
So it wasn't a lie. Chouji and Ino had betrayed him, the village, and the Will of Fire. Looking to the side now, he added another victim to his list.

They betrayed Moegi and Udon.

"I never would have pegged you for an optimistic fool Shikamaru!" Ino screeched, tears in her eyes. But she wasn't shedding them, typical troublesome blonde.

"I never would have pegged either of you for back stabbing traitors. I guess we were both wrong." He snarked, the grin not slipping.

"How can you just smile like that? Your going to be executed!" Chouji finally lost his cool.

"I'm taking a page out of a _real _friend's book." He answered simply. If he was going to die, he'd do it with a smile on his face and his eyes towards the clouds.

"Look at all the cool clouds." He sighed happily. He shouldn't be happy, but he was. All this time, whenever something went wrong, he thought it was his fault.  
Now he knew better, it wasn't his, it was theirs!

"What a perfect day to die."

_In Sunagakure, Kazekage's office._

Gaara was at a loss. He'd made an honest effort to grow closer to his siblings, but now that one of them needed, really needed, him, he was at a loss.  
How did one go about comforting a crying sister who was crying over the soon-to-be-dead boyfriend...whilst crying?

"If I ever see Ino or Chouji I will feed them to mother." He finally decided aloud. It was their fault he was in this mess! Work to do, a sister to comfort, and a brother who he hadn't seen in almost two weeks.  
Where was he anyway? Did something happen?

Gaara shook his head and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Trying to get his sister to stop staining his robes without earning her wrath in place of the traitor members of team ten.  
All without letting her know how much he hated his life at the moment.

_In Konoha. Village center._

Sakura looked up at stony eyes and didn't react when she saw Ino and Chouji try a last ditch effort to win Shikamaru to Danzo's side.  
How could her childhood friend and hero do something like this? It was only because Shikamaru had made her a spy in secret that they hadn't ratted _her _out to Danzo.

For the sake of this village, she'd have to be careful and never let her guard down.

Sasuke placed a hand on his last teammate's shoulder and gently accepted her when Sakura turned to cry into his shoulder.  
The shinobi life was hard on people like Sakura, who enjoyed healing people rather than killing them.

His unseeing eyes closed as he drew back on his memories of what team ten used to look like. Shikamaru with his chunin vest, spiky hair, and half drawn eyes. Ino with her amazingly stupid long hair and purple dancer's outfit. Chouji with his dark green jacket and numerous chips and copper hair.

They had been what a real team was supposed to be, and look how easily that fell apart. Now they were working for Danzo's side and they were his enemies.

"It'll be okay Sakura."

_In Uzu no Sato, Beach._

Naru had decided to over-see the rest of the port's building personally as an excuse to get out of the water for a while.  
She wanted a little real sun rather than the glowing imitation.

Her hair suddenly swiveled all around her and she paused to look up at the clouds gathering near the horizon.

"The winds are changing." She muttered darkly. She didn't believe in those silly wife's tales or superstitions, but she knew when a storm was coming.

"What's this ominous feeling?"

_Konoha, execution stage._

Thirty minutes and it would be all over. For some reason, he was both relieved and panicked at the thought. Relieved because it meant he wouldn't have to worry about positioning his friends and potentially endangering their lives.  
Panicked because he didn't want to die.

'Wonder if Temari knows what's going on. I hope she'll be okay, troublesome girl.' Shikamaru thought, rather calmly considering his circumstances.

'Maybe she'll convince Gaara to drop the alliance and they'll ally with Naru's village instead.' He pondered. He'd like to see that. Honestly he would.

She'd be far safer never coming to this village again.

He didn't hear when the overseer read out their transgressions. He was looking up at the clouds instead, watching the swirl up above them.  
There wasn't any way to get out of this that he and his 200 IQ could see. They were finished.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Suddenly it was like a film had been lifted from his vision and he watched in perfect detail as Konohamaru made his big comeback.

"The hero always arrives at the last minute!" The young Sarutobi declared, chopping down the guards holding them down. Two clones picked up Moegi and Udon, gentle as could be and started running.

"Come on Nara-san!" The original urged him to his feet and used a kunai to cut the bonds holding him down. That's when everyone present broke out of their stupor and moved to stop the fugitives from escaping.

They were too late.

They only stopped to take chakra pills from Konohamaru. Udon had passed out from the pain somewhere during their frantic retreat from the village, but Shikamaru and Moegi were both suffering from mild chakra exhaustion by that point.

"Konohamaru, I thought you escaped with Naru. Where is she?" The lazy nin demanded. She'd never send a kid in for a job like that! Even if he'd only gotten away with a few cuts and bruises.

"She turned her back on the village, so I turned my back on her!" Konohamaru answered heatedly.

Shikamaru's eyes widened at the implications of this new information. Somehow though, he found it hard to believe.  
But then again, so had believing Ino and Chouji would sell him out like that. If they, his teammates, could turn their backs on his home. Why not someone who had been banished from it?

Still though, he'd keep his mind open and clear. He had to be able to think clearly, in order to get them all to safety.  
But for the moment he quietned, and let Konohamaru run the show. He was tired.

"Troublesome."

_Tikaindo village, town square._

It's been a week since their escape. They had stayed from villages up until now, but they had no choice. Udon needed a doctor, a damn good one!

Shikamaru stood guard outside the apothecary, watching in case someone tracked them down and attacked.  
He wasn't paying much attention at first, but then he began listening to people's conversations.

"Yeah, Uzu no Sato is it's name, a village under the waves! Apparently their leader is a young woman named Naru Uzumaki and she has two sannin living there! She's trying to make it a hidden village and they're accepting refugees." One man explained to another.

"With these turbulent times having an underwater hiding place would come in handy. My family and I just can't hack a living here so I guess we'll relocate there." By now Shikamaru had heard enough and went inside, after leaving a clone of course, to report.

"No way!" Was Konohamaru's reaction towards the idea of going to Uzu no Sato to seek refuge.

"Think of it this way! Where is the best medic nin Tsunade right now?" Shikamaru demanded angrily. His fuse was longer than most people, but when he lost it, he really lost it.

"Udon is your friend and he needs help that these people can't offer! We're too wounded to be able to move fast and they already are sending hunter nin after us! We need somewhere safe with superb medical knowledge!" Konohamaru looked over to the bed where his best friend was struggling to breathe and clenched his fists.

"She turned her back on Konoha!" He protested.

"Konoha turned it's back on a lot of us first!" Shikamaru pointed out angrily.

"Naru's not the kind of person to turn her back on her friends or the things she considers important! She keeps her promises best she can and she tries harder than anyone else to make sure their kept! If she turned her back on us why did she save you or Iruka or Anko? Why would she risk her life for us again and again?" He demanded of the smaller boy. For all this time Shikamaru had forgotten that Konohamaru was younger than he was by a good few years.

Not even eleven yet and so strong. Trying so hard to be all he could be for the village he grew up in.

"The great tree that Konoha once was has fallen, all that's left are a few scattered seedlings, that with luck and skill might grow." Shikamaru said, beginning to calm down.

"You say Naru turned her back on us, but I think the real problem is we turned our backs first. Maybe there was something we could have done that would have helped her. Maybe it was hopeless. I don't know." By now his voice had fallen and Moegi had to strain to hear. Konohamaru was having no such troubles.

"The thing is though that she has never stopped when someone needed her. Sometimes I wonder if she knows what words like rest mean. All I do know for certain is she has never and will never turn her back on a precious person, and we're considered precious by her."

"It's going to be troublesome, but her and that village, Uzu no Sato, are our only chance."

"Troublesome."

_In Konoha, The Falling Leaf's Bar._

Ino wiped away tears and chugged another glass of sake. No matter how many she drank she couldn't forget that betrayed expression on Shikamaru's face when he was taken captive.

_Flashback no jutsu!_

It started simple enough, but as soon as they got to the cells ROOT members jumped from the shadows and bound Shikamaru's hands before signs could be formed.

"Ino! Chouji! Run!" Even then he had urged them to escape.

"Sorry Shika, but we're on their side." Ino said, turning her back on the both hopeful and crushed little girl inside. Udon wasn't even concious.

"W-What?" His eyes had shone with understanding, but his heart denied the claim.

"Danzo's too strong, we can't hope to stand up to him." Chouji said.

"B-but why? The will of fire..." he hadn't finished his sentence. He seemed to draw in on himself and he didn't respond to any of the questions asked by the interrogater.

_Flash back no jutsu! Kai!_

Ino thought she was doing what was best, after all they'd surely die by going against Danzo, but now she wasn't so sure anymore.  
Now she felt lower than dirt and she could barely make sense of anything. The only good point about all this is that in the end Shikamaru got away. Along with the kids.

Hopefully they'd find some lonely out of the way village and live in peace the rest of their lives.

"Shika."

_Akmichi compound, Chouji's room._

'Why couldn't he see sense? Usually he's good at that kind of thing.' It would be an understatement to say Chouji missed his best friend.  
Just that morning he had caught himself half way to the Nara compound before he remembered Shikamaru was gone.

He had betrayed the one true friend he'd ever had, and why? Because otherwise they would have died and he was afraid to die.

The rest of his family was avoiding him like the plaege. He was thinking about moving out and getting an apartment. It wasn't like he couldn't afford it.  
Besides, by now he honestly hated himself.

What had gripped him to do something like that to his best friend since childhood? Chouji pounded the wall next to him at the thought.  
He was still a child, whether or not he wore a hitaite. He was just a kid in a grown man's world who was doing his best to survive but had made the wrong choices down that road.

Shikamaru had never looked at him with such _hate _before and it hurt that his friend felt that way. but he couldn't blame him. He looked at himself the same way.

Everything hurt and everything reminded him of Shikamaru! The shogi board in the corner, where they would play when they were at his house.  
The books on his shelf, which Shikamaru liked to browse when they got bored. The pictures on the wall, self explanatory.

"What have I done?" He whispered, panicing in his desperation for answers that no one would answer. Shikamaru was the one who always answered his questions, and he was gone. He had fled from their home, their village, all because he was afraid!

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

END OF CHAPTER SO LEAVE NOW YOU HAIRY BEGOTS BEFORE I PLUNDER YOUR ASSES!

LC; Well it turned out better than expected!

Naruto; Wow, you can almost taste the angst.

Sasuke; I can't believe you did that with Chouji and Ino. Who'd have thunk it?

LC; Yeah well...it makes a good read. Plus you'd never expect it!

Naruto; I definitely didn't see it coming alright. What the hell are you smoking?

LC; Nothing as good as Kishi's pot. Damn I wish I knew where he got that dope!

Sasuke; I shudder to think what you'd write under the influence of that.


	13. Chapter 13

LC; Okay, I feel better now so it won't be so angsty!

Naruto; She hopes.

Sasuke; She actually has been writing a lot of angst lately.

Naruto; She's addicted to Orphan Tears.

LC; Okay, I admit it. I am LC and I am addicted to Orphan tears. I like making orphans cry.

Sasuke; Have you no shame?

LC; ~Little children near and far don't know where your parents are cry directly in this jar! I will drink it at the bar!~

Sasuke; I guess that answers that question.

Naruto; That's a catchy song though.

Sasuke; True.

LC; ~Si-Si-Si-Sipping on Orphan Tears! Si-Si-Si-Sipping on Orphan Tears!~

Naruto; Alright, getting annoying now.

Sasuke; Very.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! Or Orphan Tears. But that is some good shit!

Chapter 13; Good food, strong drinks, and bumping into old friends.

_Uzu no Sato Mountains, Cave Opening._

Two months had passed and now the valley with the cave opening hidden from view inside was filled with hopeful regugees.  
Today would be the start of the background checks, where the representatives of the village came and spoke to everyone to decide who would enter and who would remain outside.

Just behind the genjutsu cave, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Iruka, and Naru all stood talking about the kind of people they would let in.

"We can't afford to be too picky here, if we want to reach the required number of people to be a hidden village we'll need everyone we can get." Jiraiya said logically.

"Not to mention we have to be careful in case of the other hidden villages sending their own spies." Tsunade reminded them. It was a worrying possibility that some of Danzo's ROOT could be in the crowd, waiting for them to open the gates.

"I've engraved the walls of this cave with enough seals to knock away any and all genjutsu that enter it, besides of course the one that hides it's existence." Jiraiya informed them, nodding to the slightly glowing symbols.

"What about normal disguises like wigs and things? I remember getting by ANBU all the time with those back when I was a kid and pulling pranks." Naru pointed out.

"...That's how you got past the best shinobi in Konohagakure?" They should have figured. Ninja hardly ever checked for a physical disguise due to the preference of chakra.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Iruka broke the uncomfortable silence. Naru nodded and began the seals to drop the cave genjutsu.

"I hope there will be a lot of kids to join the academy." Iruka mumbled. The kids in the village were nice but he missed having a full classroom.

The people outside were whispering amongst eachother after they saw what appeared to be a solid wall vanished to be replaced by a cave and four figures.

"This is your show Naru." Jiraiya said, nudging the girl from her stunned silence. She hadn't expected so many people.

"Welcome to the Uzu Mountains!" She said loudly, drowning out all other talk.

"My name is Naru Uzumaki and these are my companions, Jiraiya, Tsunade Senju, and Iruka Umino. We will be going from group to group for some prelimanary talks before deciding who we shall bring to Uzu no Sato." Hearing that they would have to wait their turns, the people went to their seperate little camps to await the arrival of Naru.

They went from family to family, most had the same story. They left one country or another because times of unrest threatened and they wanted a place they could be safe.

"I can't promise that Uzu no Sato will be imprenetable, one day someone from the outside's going to figure out how to get in, and we're aiming to be a hidden village. All I can promise is that I and the other Uzu shinobi will do our best to protect every life that you put in our hands." Naru told these people, her gaze sure and smile small but warm.

It was later that they ratted out their first spy, a man from Taki as it turned out. He was knocked out by Tsunade and Iruka tossed him out like yesterday's trash, leaving him tied to a tree just outside the mountain range.

Next they met someone that brought shivers to Naru's thin frame. He was greasy, his hair so full of grease that a kunai would probably slide off it rather than puncture the skull.  
He was rather short, nearly Naru's height, and wore a fussy suit that was clearly a lot cheaper than he made it out to be.

"What sort of business do you run Onedera-san?" Naru asked politely, determinned not to judge anyone on appearances.

"I run a bar which doubles as a brothel." He said, indicating where his goods were currently stored.

"Perhaps you and your companions would care for a drink?" He asked politely, holding up a bottle of sake with the emblem of Nami on it. Nami sake was very popular.

"I'm sorry but I'd really rather have a clear head since my work isn't done yet." Pappy would be rolling in his grave to see where all his diplomacy lessons was going to. Trying to talk her way out of a bottle of sake with an old sleaze!

Eventually the man let them go and as they walked to the next business, a tailor shop for shinobi if she remembered correctly, they talked about that man.

"Most brothels and bars are actually outstanding and so long as we keep a tight rein on the red district he shouldn't be too much of a problem." Jiraiya stated logically. He didn't like the sleaze anymore than Naru did but he understood how brothels were used by shinobi in order to get a little stress relief after a tough mission.

"Okay he can come but don't ever ask me to go anywhere near his bar." Naru muttered, shuddering as she recalled the look that man had sent her chest through most of the discussion.

_Edge of the Refugee Camp._

Shikamaru jerked awake when he sensed four chakras approaching them at a leisurely pace. He relaxed only slightly when he remembered it was Naru, the two sannin, and their old academy teacher.  
He hadn't been able to fully relax in so long at this rate he'd forget how to unwind!

Udon was lying inside their tent, he hadn't even woken up in almost three days now. Konohamaru had finally konked out next to him and Moegi was the one on lookout for the moment.  
He should be getting back to sleep, those chakras were friendly and they'd be here when they got here.

Still though, even if it was so troublesome, he just couldn't relax enough to sleep it off. Udon needed Tsunade's healing touch and damnit he wanted answers! He wanted sleep! He wanted to go cloud watching but that was looking like less and less of a possibility and he wasn't even sure it would help anymore!

Needless to say Shikamaru Nara was reaching the end of his rope and the stress was finally starting to show. Being on the run could do that to a guy.

"M-Moegi!" His eyes snapped open and he rushed outside the little tent flap to see that Naru had finally gotten to them.

"Shikamaru too!" He had thought about what he would say when he saw her again. how he would explain their situation and everything. About telling her about Ino and Chouji's betrals. None of that fell out of his mouth.

"T-troublesome." He shuddered, bowing his head to try in vain to hide the tears already falling down. He wasn't sure how long he must have sat by the door of their tent, only that by the time he came back to reality Moegi had already told them everything, Konohamaru had woken up, and Tsunade was busy working on Udon.

Konohamaru didn't look at anything but his feet while Naru questioned Moegi about everything that had happened. He wanted to be angry at her, he wanted to yell at her for betraying his trust, but he couldn't find the strength to.

"I know one thing for sure, I don't want to be a ninja anymore!" His head jolted up so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash. He just stared at the crying girl who always claimed she would surpass Tsunade.  
The same girl giving up the line and work of a kunoichi.

"I won't force you to be a kunoichi if you don't want to. I'm sure you can find a civilian job if you want one, we're going to need all the help we can get to make sure all the houses for everyone are fixed up and moving all this stuff is going to be hard." Naru was saying kindly. In that instant, he forgot all about trying to hate her. He was too tired.

"They're all suffering from extended chakra exhaustion and this kid here is nearly comatose. We're going to have to get him to the village soon where Shizune has all the supplies." He didn't hear anything, he was too tired. The words weren't making any sense.

"Hey gaki, get some sleep. Your like the walking dead right now." He felt someone lowering him down from where he was standing and covering him with something like a blanket. Only they didn't have any blankets.

"Nara, girl, you both need some rest too." His eyes were closed but he heard someone bringing in and laying down to others next to him. Shikamaru-nii and Moegi-chan.

"Will they be alright?" That sounded like Naru-nee but he couldn't understand the words anymore. He was drifting.

"Extended chakra exhaustion can be very dangerous but if they get some rest for a few weeks they should turn out alright. It's this Udon kid I'm worried about." His overworked muscles weren't screaming at him anymore, he was finally able to relax a little.

"I've never seen an uptight and stressed out Nara before. Shows how bad things are getting I guess." Something cool touched his brow and he almost whimpered when it pulled away.

"Just let them all sleep for a bit and we'll carry them through when we leave in the morning." Wasn't that voice Iruka-sensei? Heh, what was he doing here? It was getting hard to think now.

Naru watched as the three fell asleep almost instantly and found herself wondering how the rest of her friends were doing. She had a lot to think about. Ino and Chouji betraying Shikamaru? This didn't make any sense!

"We're done for today so let's set up our own camp and we'll move everyone in the morning." Jiraiya said, sitting down in a free spot and leaning back.

"Over all we now have about 349 people who will be citizens of Uzu no Sato. We need 500." Iruka sighed. He had hoped for more people but this was a pretty big turn out as it was. He doubted they would have finished in one day if there was 500 people here today.

"Counting the 30 people in the Hirogane clan that are already here it's 379 people." Naru added helpfully.

"Plus Akane and the baby, the three kids, Isamu, Haradai, Baa-chan, Ero-sennen, Iruka-sensei, Anko, and Dei that makes 391 people." She said, adding them one by one on her fingers.

"So we still need at least 110 more people before applying for hidden village status." Iruka sighed. It seemed like a large number when talking about people. If they got another turn out even half as good as this one they'd be a real hidden village in no time.

"We wouldn't even register on their scale until we made a few shinobi though. And that takes time." Tsunade reminded them. On the bright side, most of the children there had expressed dreams of becoming shinobi to protect their new homes.

"My spies reported that more people are still making the journey here. We'll meet them in about a week, which is when the soonest are reported likely to arrive." Jiraiya muttered. This seemed a lot of work to him. He wondered if that Onedara-san would be willing to let him have a freeby at one or two of his girls.

"In the morning we move them all out! Our village is really growing!" Naru said happily. She settled down on the clean grass and slept evenly while Iruka stood on watch.  
Tsunade would take the midnight shift, and Jiraiya the early morning shift. She had tried to get a shift but they said she still had to rest, especially after all those interviews.

_The Next Day._

The camps and luggage were all packed up and everyone was waiting at the cave's entrance to be allowed in.  
Naru dropped the re-established genjutsu and bid everyone to follow her quickly to the other side. If with a little hesitancy, all of them went through willingly.

Some litters had been made for the few who were injured and sick, and Shikamaru, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi all occupied a different one.  
Her mind kept drifting to them.

"Naru, this is a large group. Will you be able to get them all down in one go?" Tsunade asked. That question had been bothering her for a while now actually. The gaki may have been a chakra juggernaut but even Naru Uzumaki had her limits.

"Not all at once no. A hundred at a time if they move quickly." Naru considered. She had given it some thought and figured she would need to take a break between groups.

"We'll get the injured down first, it'll take longer to get down the steps so we'll have to go by fifty rather than a hundred for the first group." Tsunade did the calculations.

"I'll go down with them and get straight to work if that's okay." She wasn't really asking for permission, it was just for show for the people behind them.

"That's okay. I'll need about ten minutes to recover and then send down the next group." Naru told the older woman.

They got to the open sea and for a moment Naru admired her handy work with the port, which had come along quite nicely. A shipment from Nami was due in two days actually. Crescent by noon if she remembered right.

"Alright! Will the injured and sick please come forward first? You'll be going down with Tsunade here to the hospital!" Naru announced, having turned to the waiting crowd. Slowly that group made it to the front and she walked to the edge of the water.

"You'll have to hurry because I can only keep this up for so long." Naru reminded Tsunade. The aged woman nodded and watched with all her eye power as small grains of chakra from Naru filtered into the ocean, binding it to her will.

Naru spread her arms and the waves responded by pulling apart. The strain was visible though. No matter how many times she willed the water to do something, no doubt it would always fight her, not used to being contained.

The people hurried down with the litters as quickly as they were able down the steep stairs. Naru watched their progress with a critical eye. She would have to keep the passage open until the reached the gates of the great dome village.

It took fifteen minutes to get them all down and Tsunade waved through the glass of the dome to tell her to drop it.  
The waves came down with a large crash, dousing her and causing her to swallow some of the salty liquid.

Jiraiya pulled her out by the scruff of her clothes and handed her a towel. Naru took it with a chuckle and began drying her now ruined hair.

"That's amazing." Naru turned to see a middle aged man missing one eye facing her with disbelief written all over. Something about this guy struck her as odd and she made a mental note to keep an eye out for him.

"Not really. I've been doing this for a while now. It just taxes me to do it for so long." The man blinked, seeming to realize he had apparently spoken aloud.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name." She was pretty sure she would remember the name of an eye patch wearing man though. Weird.

"Akihiho Natsuume." The man answered hurredly, clearly put out of being engaged in a conversation.

Naru tilted her head a little before seeming to think better of whatever she wanted to say next. She had noticed that this man was walking rather stiffly, as though unsure in his own shoes. His brown hair revealed black at the roots as well.

This guy was obviously more than he appeared, but the question was if he was a harmless civilian merely dyeing their hair or a spy trying to get into the village.

"Where do you come from?" She asked him, still waiting for her chakra to replenish itself.

"Land of Lightning." He answered curtly, though obviously trying to be polite.

"That's nice. What do you do for a living?" She asked him. His answer had been slightly hesitant that time, like either he wasn't being honest or trying to figure out if he should tell the truth.

"I am a secretary." He answered. Naru waited until he became preoccupied with a shell he had found before glancing at his hands.  
They weren't ink stained, and seemed rather calloused for a simple secretary.

"I could use one of those, paperwork's a killer." She sighed, thinking back on the pile no doubt waiting for her. All these people would equal to a week's worth of papers to go through.

"Perhaps you can offer me a job!" Now the guy sounded a little too friendly. He was clearly more than he seemed but if he was a shinobi he wasn't one meant for stealth, that's for sure.

I'll have to get back to you on that. The people's registration is going to take a while and I'm supposed to go through that and approve all the new businesses and sign all the papers and stuff personally." She sighed, making sure she looked put out at the thought.

"Why does the leader of the village have to do all the paperwork?" Pretending to gripe about paperwork wasn't as hard as one might think.

"I guess that's the curse of leadership." The man nodded, obviously trying to make a good impression on her now.

"By the way, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?" He asked.

"I'll be fifteen in two months." She told him honestly. What was the point in hiding her age?

"You seem older." The man said, his eye widened in mock surprise.

"How does a mere child end up leader of an entire village?" He asked her curiously.

"This and that, being stronger than a good number of the other people, all that good stuff." She said nonchalantly. Ten minutes had passed now, time to get back to work.

"If you'll excuse me, we'll have to continue this conversation later." She said, before turning to the restless crowd and calling for a group of 100 people to go down next.

The man made sure to end up in the last group to go down with Naru, watching as she walked down and kept waving her arms in that specific pattern that kept the water from crashing on their heads.

"Ne, Akihiho hurry up! I can't keep this up forever!" The man jolted out of the daze he had fallen into and rushed to catch up to the group. He definitely did not want to find out what a thousand tons of water felt like crashing down on your body.

He had to pause a minute when they reached the bottom and found the amazing utopia that was Uzu no Sato.

Naru was right in that this man was more than he seemed. Behind his eye patch was a single Byakugan eye, and it was desperatly trying to memorize each twist and turn through the village to it's center.

END OF THIS CHAPTER SO NOW YOU CAN GO AND DREAM OF WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

LC; Alright! We've got a pretty good spy using that disguise mentioned earlier.

Naruto; Geez, you and your stupid cliff hangers.

Sasuke; It wasn't that bad a hanger this time.

LC; I am forever getting better at writing which is what I do best!

Naruto;...Nani?

Sasuke; Let's just finish this already.

LC; Alright! Review and I'll see ya next time!


	14. Chapter 14

LC; Welcome back to Uzukage!

Naruto; Where awesome is often and heroes roam free!

LC; And council members get bashed.

Sasuke; And...*glares at card so hard that it bursts into flames* I am forced to do chores.

LC; Hey! They aren't chores!

Sasuke; You made me wash your dishes.

LC; Not a chore!

Sasuke; How was washing dishes that hadn't seen soap for a mellenia not a chore?

LC; It was a fiersome battle against Squishy.

Naruto; Who's Squishy?

LC; The evil sink monster who feeds of the scraps on my plates!

Disclaimer; I do not own anything! Except Squishy. He is mine and he is my Squishy! Come here Squishy!~~

Chapter 14; Hospitals, Romantics, and Bets!

Never in all her life did Naru think she would ever feel anything than abject loathing for paperwork. No, not after registering every new citizen, leasing every house, and aiding every single business, did she think she'd ever think of the word paperwork without accidently releasing an amount of KI that even the Kyubi wouldn't sniff at.

Naru had fifty clones working non-stop around the clock while she tried not to go crazy from the info-overload she was expieriencing.  
So many names, faces, locations, and clauses flashed through her mind she was amazed she could remember her own name let alone where each and every citizen was moving to!

She couldn't wait until a Civilian council was established so that they could take care of this kind of work. She'd much rather deal with order forms for shuriken or something than house leases! At least that was semi-interesting compared to what her clones were doing now.

"Naru-sama, you look like your having fun." Naru gasped and immediatly glomped the source of the distraction. Haradai stumbled back at the unexpected charge but caught his mistress without faltering.  
His wounds were all healed up.

"Dear Kami if someone so much as says the word paper again I am going to kill someone." Naru whimpered, doing her best not to cry at the thought.

Haradai chuckled lightly before walking to the couch in the office and sitting down with Naru laying her head in his lap.

"Isamu is doing quite well in the newly established academy. He's been helping Iruka-san register the students." Haradai told her.

"Unfortunatly, you'll be getting some papers about that later." Naru groaned and sniffed, trying to hold in tears no doubt.

"The Hirogane clan have been helping people move into their homes." Naru nodded in response. She winced when a clone popped, giving her a brand new headache as she thought about the shipment that was arriving even as she spoke.

The clone that had just popped had been reporting that the shipment from Crescent had arrived. She'd have to get some people up there and bring everything down to the village soon.

"Shipment from Crescent just arrived." She told Haradai. He nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

Naru sat up and popped a crick in her neck. Dang, sitting around trying to sort information could give a girl such a crick in the neck! She missed running around and training all the time.

"It's official, I am getting a secretary." She swore. Maybe that Akihiho guy would accept, he seemed alright if not for the fact she was certain now that he was a shinobi.

She could always just make sure nothing too important made it's way onto his desk. Once things quietened down a bit that shouldn't be too difficult.

"Anko-san, will you do me a favor and find Deidei for me?" Naru shouted. She knew Anko was sitting outside her window, to make sure she didn't escape probably.

"No problem gaki!" Anko told her, treating her with respect, strangely enough. Anko didn't respect people easily but then again she had always sort of respected the gaki. That did not mean she would stop calling the gaki, gaki though. Nope, Naru was staying as gaki in her mind.

"Tell him to meet me up top for the shipment!" Naru ordered the crazy jounin before gathering her supplies and creating an emergency greeting clone. A greeting clone is simply a clone that will act as her in case someone comes in to see her.

"Are you well enough to come Haradai?" She asked curiously. She didn't want to leave him after he just got out of the hospital.

"Shizune fixed me up good as new!" He reassured her, already standing with his sword at his side, ready to follow her to makai and back.

"Then let's go!" She urged him, hopping out the window and dashing over roof tops to get to the city entrance.

Up top they arrived just in time to greet the crew men, who had just put down anchor. Naru spoke to the captain and Hikaru, who had tagged along.

"Your not just a prince's son anymore are you?" She teased him mercilessly.

"Right! Someday I'm going to be king too! And we'll be allies with Uzugakure!" The village hidden in the depths, not just the Depths village. Naru smiled and nodded, she shook his hand before taking him to meet her friends.

"This is Haradai and Deidara!" She said, nodding to both in turn. Deidara decided to freak the kid out and waved at him, his extra mouth licking it's lips. Hikaru's jaw dropped but he didn't do anything other than stare for a second before remembering his manners.

"Naru it seems incredible that you have an underwater village, do you think I could see it?" He asked politely. He had grown from the spoiled brat he had been when they first met, she'd give him that much.

"You think I'm going to let you go home without showing off a little?" She asked him seriously, feigning a pained expression. He laughed, just as she had intended.

Without warning, the sabre toothe that she had forgotten about jumped from atop the cabin roof, knocking her to the ground.  
Haradai half drew his sword before he realized that his mistress wasn't screaming in pain, rather she was laughing.

"Chamu! You big ole kitty cat get off!" She gasped, trying to keep from getting sabre toothe slobber in her hair.

"Hikaru! Call him off!" She pleaded, unable to make the great cat get off on her own.

"I think you won Chamu." The boy chuckled. The cat seemed to nod in satisfaction before backing off.

"Ew! I need a shower!" Naru cried in disgust upon seeing her now ruined outfit. Darn, this was her last battle kimono! She liked this outfit!

"Sorry Naru-nee." Hikaru apologized. She sighed before taking a scroll from her kunai pouch before telling him she'd be back in five minutes.

She found the bathroom on the ship and unsealed the emergency clothes in the scroll. After removing her forever ruined outfit, she put on her new one before inspecting herself in the mirror.

First came the fishnet under armor, topped by an open tunic that was tied closed at the stomach with an obi. The knot was simple but tied in a way that she could hide senbon needles inside it if she had to.  
Her bottom consisted of black billowy shorts that hung a little loose on the hip line, leaving a little to the imagination.

Naru rejoined everyone outside and assured Hikaru she wasn't angry that Chamu had slobbered all over her other outfit.

As they loaded all the good into the secret entrance, since Naru wasn't sure she could hold the waves back while they carried everything down the other way, Naru answered questions from Hikaru.

"Father got word that you had been banished and we withdrew our support from Konoha right away. From what I was made aware, Suna, Nami, and Yuki have done so as well." Those were all places she had been to on missions! She'd have to remember to send ambassadors to those places once they were registered.

_Week later, arrival of second group to enter village!_

Keisuke cracked his neck to relieve the crick before checking to see if Ururu was still asleep. Yep, sleeping like a baby while he did the hard work of carrying both her and their bags.

He blinked away the sunlight as they entered a beach. He had met with that strange woman, who he now knew was called Naru Uzumaki, and she had accepted his band into her village. She seemed interested in Yuzu and Youruichi's abilities but didn't even ask for her fortune read. Strange woman indeed.

Ururu shifted from her position on his back and he rearranged the bags so as not to disturb her. He would most likely be putting her into the ninja academy that the woman's comrade had started. Youruichi would join once he was old enough.  
He would be given a test to see how strong he was before allowed to join the shinobi corps and given whatever rank he deserved.

It was a rather fair system, very effecient too, now that he gave some thought to it. This way she could see who would be loyal to her cause and give them the proper missions to test that loyalty. This Naru Uzumaki was no fool, he was certain of that at least, despite her age.

Beside him Yuzu panted slightly from the exertion of carrying Youruichi down the long flight of stairs. The little boy wasn't fast enough and they had to get down there within ten minutes.  
She was pushing herself and still they were the last in their group to get to the bottom, but at least they made it in time.

Once safely inside the glass dome, which was covered in intricate seals that seemed to protect it from the pressure of the outside, he took this time to look around.

The village seemed normal enough, except for the fact that it was underwater and he could see a shark swimming just outside the dome.  
He realized that there should not be light at the bottom of the sea and looked up to see a giant crystal.

It glowed steadily with all the power of the sun, a source of light and heat. He could tell from the nearby trees that it was powerful enough to give plants life as well.

"The legendary Uzu no sato, it is as majestic as I thought it would be." He said, awed despite himself. It was truly an awe inspiring site. How many years had it taken the founders to build this amazing city in the depths?

_Three Hours later._

Naru sighed as the final clone popped, telling her that some farmers had requested permission to sell their produce in the market.  
Naru's brows came together as she wondered as to the intelligence of simply importing food from other countries. What if a famine hit one of those countries? What if they were put under seize and so could not get food brought in?

Naru leaned back against her nice, soft chair and thought more on the problem. She had given up and was now thinking about the dome to the village and how she would need to inspect it to make sure none of the seals were being messed with...That's it!

_'There's plenty of Sun crystals deep in the undersea cavern! I know the seals to make the glass strong enough to withstand the pressure of the ocean! I can build more domes for farming villages!'_ Oh she knew it might take years to build even one, but the point of the matter was it was possible! She could do it, and with her ability to make an almost endless amount of clones it wouldn't even take all that long.

The only real problem was resources and archetects and she knew just where to find them. Tazuna, despite his reputation as an old drunk, was both a bridge builder and an archetect. He could help with supports and such easily!

It would be difficult to install a new entrance way, especially since she could only hold back the ocean like that from a large enough space for about thirty minutes on a good day.  
It would take a lot of planning, and probably a lot soldier pills too, but she could do it!

But before she could even think about that, she had to go and arrange a meeting with the daimyo of the Unnamed lands.  
With any luck she could convince him to establish them officially and these Unnamed lands would finally have a name, once they had a military.

"Man, being a village leader is a lot harder than it looks." She sighed. Before she could do that she had to make arrangements over who would go with her, who would handle things while she was gone, how supplies would be brought down when they couldn't fit into the tunnel. All the more reason to begin work on more dome glass, now that she thought about that.

At their meeting that night, Naru told them everything she had been thinking of and then let everyone else have a say in what they thought about them.

"I agree, more dome villages would be beneficial but until everything's finalized with the Daimyo I think we should hold off on it." Iruka stated logically almost at once.

"As for who will go to the meeting with the daimyo, I think it should be Naru, Haradai, and that Shikamaru boy." Jiraiya interjected.

"Why Shikamaru?" Naru asked him. Shikamaru was still in the hospital and hadn't woken up yet, though baa-chan said he should sometime tomorrow.

"I remember Asuma telling me that kid has an IQ of over 200, he could be useful in thinking of ways to get the daimyo to agree with you." He answered.

"Huh, I didn't know Shika was that smart!" Naru mumbled, surprised. He had always been with her near the bottom of the class so she had just assumed he was too lazy to be smart.

"His chakra levels are back to normal, I can't think of a reason why not." Tsunade grumbled. She didn't like her patients being sent away so soon. Her inner medic didn't like it one bit!

"What if something happens? Don't you think someone else should go with the gaki?" Anko pointed out. Two people weren't a very awe inspiring guard. They had to make an impression.

"Hmm...Baa-chan should come too!" Their gaki stated.

"Why me gaki?" Tsunade asked quid pro quo for the baa-chan comment.

"Because your a sannin so you command respect and such. I'd say ero-sennin but he is a perv and I heard that the daimyo has a very pretty wife and I don't want him getting us killed by peeping on her." Naru told them logically.

"Plus your a Senju so people automatically respect you!" Tsunade grunted in acknowledgement. Shizune could take care of everything while she was gone anyway. The hospital was in good hands with her young apprentice.

"That sounds better." Anko grinned. She wished she could go but she knew that she couldn't go just yet. Besides, Naru said she wanted her to take on a genin team consisting of some promising kids who had already been trained and asked to be shinobi.

Sarutobi had never given her a team, not even asked her if she would like one. She knew that the old man had never trusted her with children because he thought she might scar them for life. That Naru trusted her though, even though proclaiming her to be an insane bitch, was huge.

She was going to make sure she trained those kids to be legends! She'd show the gaki that she was right to trust her with those kids!

After the meeting, Naru went home to relax in a nice warm bubble bath. Afterwards falling into her bed and slipping to sleep.

_Next Day, Uzu Hospital!_

Shikamaru couldn't get enough of just staring out that window and straight out into the oceans past the dome. He had almost thought he was dreaming when he first woke up and saw it.  
A pinch test had been more than enough to lay his fears to rest.

_'Troublesome. So this is Uzu no Sato? It has a great natural defense and judging from the fact that this dome is strong enough to stop the water pressure from cracking it I'd say it'd be strong enough to hold back most jutsu as well. Maybe it guards against chakra attacks? It looks like that the crystal thing wedged onto the roof of this place keeps the plants here alive. I wonder if there are any wild life running around? Other than the fish of course. Troublesome. The archetecture is beautiful but it seems to have defensive and offensive uses as well. With the way the roofs and things are made to look like crashing waves it makes shields and things to guard against attacks or to plan ambushes behind. Troublesome. How did this place get wiped out anyway? The people who used to live here must have had an enormous advantage. They must have had inside help, or even getting to the village itself would be nearly impossible.'_

Despite his lazy demeanor, Shikamaru is a genius. As such, even something like staring into space gives him more than enough insight into the hows and whys of things.  
His over analytical mind though is troublesome. The only way he's able to ignore it is by staring at clouds.

Because clouds aren't troublesome at all. They just float there, going wherever the wind blows. There aren't any clouds down here though, which is troublesome. What's he going to go stare at then? Water? There was plenty of it.

He was saved from yet more troublesome ponderings by the door opening and his old friend Naru walking inside.

"Shika! Your awake!" She cried, immediatly clutching him in a hug which he awkwardly tried to pull out of. Was that swordsman guy glaring at him? Troublesome.

"How are Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon?" He asked, the first time he spoke since he woke up.

"Still out of it. They're in the next room on the right." She told him.

"Anyway, Moegi wasn't very much help in telling us what happened. She was so out of it she didn't really make a lot of sense. Can you tell us?" She asked him curiously. Shikamaru sighed and muttered another troublesome before retelling her everything that had happened, from start to finish.

"Ino and Choji would really do such a thing?" Her face was blank, but her eyes weren't. They were raging and he felt for a moment that he could see some red in them but quickly dismissed that feeling.

Naru then told him everything that had happened on her end since they last met. He was surprised to find that she now had a population of 649 people in the village now. With that many she could apply for hidden village status.

"We're already spreading word about us to the Unnamed lands and will be leaving for a meeting with the daimyo to make everything official soon as your ready!" He blinked at the implication that he was going too. Troublesome girl, oh well. Fighting her would only be even more troublesome.

"When do you want to leave?" He asked instead. Hopefully with Tsunade-sama around it wouldn't be too troublesome.

"Baa-chan says we can leave tomorrow after she checks you. She also said Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon should be awake by the time we get back!" She said happily.

"Troublesome girl." He sighed again.

"Hey Shika? Do you still want to be a shinobi?" He looked at Naru in surprise to see she had an amazingly nuetral expression on. He couldn't tell what she was expecting, couldn't read her at all.

"I have a new nindo now. I don't go back on my word, sound familiar?" She nodded in answer.

"I promised myself I'd become a good shinobi to help my friends, that's you guys and the rookies still back in Konoha. If the best way I can help them in the long haul is by becoming an Uzu shinobi, then give me a hitaite."

END OF THE CHAPTER AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS A REALLY GOOD PLACE TO END IT!

LC; Perfect. This chapter is now officially perfect.

Naruto; Hey, I got a question. When does Orochimaru make an opening here?

LC;...I kinda forgot about him. Maybe he'll pop up later.

Sasuke; Are you going to make the rest of the rookies move to Uzu?

LC; Maybe, maybe not. Personally I don't think so.

Naruto; So the rest of them can stay there?

LC; Yep! Maybe I'll get one or two more Konoha people down there, but not a whole lot.

Naruto; See you all next time! Review button is right below here! Click it!


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